iiln 


JOSEPH-A-GILFILLAN 


THE   OJIBWAY 


THE  OJIBWAY 


A    NOVEL    OF    INDIAN    LIFE 

of  the  Period  of  the  Early  Advance  of 
Civilization  in  the  Great  Northwest 


BY 

JOSEPH  A.  GILFILLAN 


NEW  YORK  AND  WASHINGTON 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1904 


COPYRIGHT,  1904 
BY  JOSEPH  A.  GILFILLAN 


To  the  Sweetest  of  Wives 
HARRIET  WOODBRIDGE 

Who,  setting  out  from  old  Connecticut,  for 
twenty-three  years  among  the  Ojibways  shed  hap 
piness  around,  this  book  is  dedicated  by 

THE  AUTHOR. 
April  19,  1904. 


A  A  •*  ft**  •*  A 


CONTENTS. 

I.  THE  RETURN  OF  THE  HUNTER 9 

II.  TROUBLE  IN  THE  WIGWAM 16 

III.  TRYING  TO  GET  RID  OF  THE  TROUBLE  .     .     .21 

IV.  FURTHER  EFFORTS  TO  GET  RID  OF  THE  TROUBLE    33 
V.  THE    SUPREME   EFFORT   TO   GET   RID   OF   THE 

TROUBLE 38 

VI.  YELLOW  THUNDER  TAKES  MEANS  TO  ASSUAGE 

HIS   GRIEF 49 

VII.  THE  FORTUNES  OF  WAR 71 

VIII.  THE   BLOW   FALLS 85 

IX.  UNEXPECTED  GOOD  FORTUNE 98 

X.  A  DELIRIUM  OF  JOY 107 

XL  WILL  IT  BE  LIFE  OR  DEATH? 110 

XII.  A  THIRST  FOR  GLORY  SEIZES  GULL  LAKE  VIL 
LAGE      133 

XIII.  THE  THIRST  FOR  GLORY  STILL  WORKS  .     .     .146 

XIV.  SUMMER  HAPPINESS 152 

XV.  MORE  SUMMER  HAPPINESS 163 

XVI.  COMING  HOME  TO  ROOST 175 

XVII.  A  STROKE  OF  GENIUS .     .184 

XVIII.  UNEXPECTED  RESULTS  OF  A  NEW  WAR  PARTY  .   197 

XIX.  WHAT  CAME  OF  THE  LUCIFER  MATCH  .      .     .246 

XX.  THE  MEETING 271 

XXL  A  NEW  LIGHT  IN  THE  VILLAGE  .      .     .      .     .279 

XXII.  "!N  THE  MIDST  OF  LIFE  WE  ARE  IN  DEATH"  .  298 

XXIII.  "HONOR  THY  FATHER  AND  THY  MOTHER"  .      .  321 

XXIV.  SHA-BOSH-KUNK  REACHES   THE  PINNACLE  OF 

GLORY 339 

XXV.  FAMINE,  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT     .     .      .     .  356 

XXVI.  THE  CONTEST 388 

XXVII.  BE  SURE  YOUR  SIN  WILL  FIND  You  OUT  .     .  422 

XXVIII.  RETRIBUTION 449 

XXIX.  STILL  WATERS  AT  LAST   .  .455 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  RETURN  OF  THE  HUNTER. 

When  the  shades  of  evening  were  beginning  to 
close  in  on  a  May  day  about  the  middle  of  the 
century  just  ended,  an  Indian  hunter  on  the 
lonely  shores  of  Gull  Lake,  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Minnesota,  was  warned  by  the  increas 
ing  gloom  that  it  was  time  for  him  to  turn  his 
steps  homeward.  He  had  been  all  day  hunting 
ducks  to  provide  food  for  the  loved  ones,  and  a 
well-filled  bag  which  hung  from  his  back  sus 
pended  by  a  deer  hide  strap  showed  that  his 
efforts  had  not  been  in  vain.  His  gun  was  on 
his  shoulder,  and  at  his  feet  was  his  faithful 
dog,  who  had  so  many  times  that  day  dashed 
into  the  water  and  brought  to  land  the  mallards 
which  the  sure  aim  of  his  master's  gun  had  de 
prived  of  life.  He  seemed  to  share  his  master 's 
opinion  that  it  was  about  time  to  think  of  sup 
per  and  a  place  to  sleep,  for  when  the  master 
ceased  scanning  the  lake  for  ducks  and  took  a 
long  look  toward  the  place  where  his  wigwam 
should  be,  turning  his  steps  toward  it,  the  dog 
gave  a  joyous  bark  and  scampered  ahead  in 
that  direction.  As  he  ran  on  he  ever  and  anon 
looked  round  with  joyous  face  to  his  master, 
his  meaning  being  as  plain  as  if  he  had  spoken 
it:  "That's  right,  master;  it  is  time  to  go  to 
home  and  supper. " 


10  THE  OJIBWAY 

The  hush  of  evening  was  on,  and  stillness 
brooded  on  all  around,  broken  only  when  a  dry 
twig  snapped  under  the  elastic  tread  of  the 
hunter  and  the  light  pressure  of  his  moccasined 
foot.  The  lake,  lying  like  something  molten  in 
the  hollow  of  a  great  depression,  reflected  all 
the  tints  of  the  evening  sky  as  in  a  looking- 
glass,  and  the  pine  trees,  which  in  some  places 
projected  far  over  its  waters,  were  faithfully 
reproduced  there.  The  evening  star  was  to  be 
seen  there,  and  the  red  tints  of  the  western  sky, 
a  few  floating  clouds,  and  the  brooding  pines: 
there  was  a  double  world,  one  above  one  be 
low. 

The  hunter  was  a  man  above  middle  size,  and 
carried  himself  with  the  beautiful  poise,  and 
had  the  light,  elastic  tread  of  the  Indian.  His 
ample  chest  was  thrown  forward,  his  head  back ; 
one  arm  bare  to  the  shoulder,  except  where  a 
broad,  thin  silver  band  on  the  upper  arm 
encircled  it,  steadied  his  gun;  the  other 
was  hidden  beneath  the  folds  of  the 
blanket,  which  it  kept  in  place  around  his  body. 
His  small  and  well-shaped  feet  were  encased  in 
deer-hide  moccasins  that  fitted  like  a  glove,  and 
on  the  upper  part,  over  the  high  instep,  were 
worked  some  beautiful  figures  in  bead-work!, 
the  character  and  design  of  which  showed  to 
the  experienced  eye  that  he  was  an  Ojibway.  Evi 
dently  there  was  some  female  friend  or  relative 
to  whom  he  was  dear,  and  the  tale  of  whose  af 
fection  the  neat-fitting  and  carefully-worked 
moccasin  told.  To  the  tops  were  sewed  pieces  of 
deerskin  wliich  were  wound  round  his  legs  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  11 

bound  with  deer-hide  thongs,  also  sewed  to  the 
top  of  his  moccasins,  and  which  were  wrapped 
several  times  around  his  limbs,  thus  holding  the 
deerskin  tops  firmly  in  place. 

When  he  moved  aside  the  blanket  in  walking, 
it  was  seen  that  he  also  had  on  white  cotton  leg 
gings,  reaching  above  the  knee,  and  which  were 
held  in  place  by  thongs  fastened  to  the  belt 
around  his  waist.  His  thighs  were  bare,  as  was 
his  body,  except  for  the  breech-cloth;  and  over 
all  was  the  invaluable  blanket;  his  covering  by 
day  and  his  complete  protection  in  the  wildest 
winter  storms  by  night. 

He  and  his  faithful  dog  thus  plodded  on  a 
good  many  miles  along  the  shore  of  the  lake, 
until  he  came  to  a  birch-bark  canoe  drawn  up  on 
the  sand,  out  of  reach  of  the  waters  of  the  lake 
and  out  of  danger  of  heing  blown  in  by  the  wind. 
When  he  came  to  it  he  turned  into  the  woods 
and  searched  for  some  seconds  among  a  clump 
of  bushes,  whence  he  brought  out  a  paddle.  The 
paddle  in  the  canoe  would  have  been  a  tempta 
tion  to  any  one  happening  along  to  use  it: 
having  hidden  it  where  no  one  but  himself  could 
find  it  he  was  reasonably  sure  of  finding  his 
canoe. 

In  it  he  now  embarked  with  his  dog,  and 
giving  it  a  shove  as  he  jumped  aboard  sent 
it  far  over  the  waters ;  then  taking  his  seat  and 
seizing  his  paddle,  with  skilful  strokes  sent  it 
skimming  along.  Soon  its  bow  grated  on  the 
sand  on  the  farther  shore,  and  springing  out  he 
lifted  it  out  of  the  water  and  carried  it  some 
distance  up  on  the  land  and  inverted  it  there. 


12  THE  OJIBWAY 

Then  taking  his  gun  and  paddle  in  one  hand 
and  slinging  the  bag  of  ducks  over  his  back, 
he  walked  swiftly  in  the  direction  of  his  wig 
wam. 

His  road  lay  through  a  scattered  Indian  set 
tlement  of  several  hundred  inhabitants;  the 
Gull  Lake  Indian  village.  There  was  no  attempt 
at  anything  like  a  street;  the  wigwams  were 
built  here  and  there  and  everywhere  in  pictur 
esque  confusion.  As  he  went  along  he  saw  an 
endless  number  of  columns  of  light,  high  up  in 
the  sky,  each  resting  on  a  black  base  a  consider 
able  distance  from  the  earth.  These  were  the 
columns  of  light  from  the  open  tops  of  the  wig 
wams  streaming  far  upwards. 

It  was  the  evening  hour;  the  labor  of  the  day 
was  over,  the  families  were  all  assembled,  sit 
ting  in  circles  around  the  fire,  which  was  kept 
blazing  high  with  the  wood  liberally  thrown 
upon  it  from  the  pile  deposited  at  the  out 
side  of  each  door.  As  our  hunter  passed 
wigwam  after  wigwam  he  everywhere  heard 
the  sounds  of  laughter  and  of  mirth  issuing 
from  each.  The  whole  village  seemed  to 
have  given  itself  up  to  joy.  Sometimes  as 
he  passed  the  blanket  door  was  thrown  aside, 
and  looking  in  there  was  the  happy  group, 
all  bathed  in  light  and  warmth,  reclining  on 
mats  around  the  central  fire.  Jests  and  laugh 
ter  flew  around,  and  every  face  was  radijint. 
There  was  the  father  sitting  behind  the  fire,  op 
posite  the  opening  for  a  door,  in  the  seat  of 
honor,  if  the  ground  can  be  called  a  seat,  hold 
ing  up  on  its  little  trembling,  uncertain  legs,  his 


THE  OJIBWAY  13 

baby  just  beginning  to  walk.  There  was  the 
mother  preparing  the  evening  meal;  there  was 
the  steaming  pot  suspended  from  the  crotch  of  a 
sapling  over  the  fire,  whence  a  delicious  savor 
of  cooking  meat  diffused  itself.  There  were  the 
little  brothers  and  sisters  of  all  sizes  and  ages 
disposed  along  the  sides  of  the  wigwam,  their 
white  teeth  shining  and  their  sides  shaking  with 
laughter  at  the  mishaps  of  the  little  naked,  stag 
gering  baby  in  its  efforts  to  navigate  over  the 
outstretched  legs  which  encircled  the  fire.  Such 
were  the  happy  scenes  again  and  again  repeated 
in  every  wigwam,  which  the  hunter  noticed  with 
observant  eye  as  he  passed. 

The  glowing  columns  of  light  from  the  top  of 
each  wigwam  lit  up  also  the  rude  framework  in 
front  of  nearly  every  one,  on  which  were  hung 
countless  strips  of  venison,  of  moose  meat,  and 
the  flesh  of  other  animals  suspended  there  to 
dry.  It  was  evident  there  was  plenty  in  the  vil 
lage  ;  abundance  of  food,  and  of  the  best.  Every 
where  there  was  innocent  revelry  and  the  happy 
enjoyment  of  families.  Throughout  the  whole 
length  of  the  village  which  he  traversed  there 
was  no  trace  of  care  or  sorrow.  Old  and  young 
alike  were  happy. 

And  now  at  last  Ozawa-animiki  *( Yellow 
Thunder),  for  such  was  the  hunter's  name, 
reached  his  own  home,  and  lifting  aside  the  skin 
kept  spread  out  by  two  small  sticks  which  cov 
ered  the  opening  in  the  birch  bark  which  served 
for  a  door,  he  stepped  in.  It  was  an  ordinary 
wigw-am,  about  sixteen  feet  across  and  twelve 

*As  written  in  this  book,  "a"  is  pronounced  as  "a"  in  father; 
"e"  as  in  they  ;  "i"  as  in  machine. 


11  THE  OJIBWAY 

feet  to  the  top,  made  of  poles  coming  together 
at  the  top,  but  spread  out  at  the  bottom,  whare 
they  were  thrust  into  the  ground  some  distance. 
Around  these  poles  on  the  outside  there 
were  loosely  laid  on  large  strips  of  birch 
bark,  sometimes  overlapping  each  other 
a  little  and  sometimes  leaving  considerable 
chinks  between.  These  were  laid  on  diagonally, 
and  extended  from  the  ground  nearly  to  the  top. 
The  top  was  open  for  the  escape  of  the  smoke. 
There  were  no  beds,  tables,  nor  chairs,  but  all 
around  the  sides  of  the  wigwam  mats  made 
by  the  good  woman  of  the  house  from  the  rushes 
which  grew  in  the  lake.  On  these  mats  the  fam 
ily  reclined  by  day  and  slept  by  night.  Round 
the  sides  of  the  wigwam  were  neatly  stowed  the 
scant  bed  coverings  of  the  inmates,  their  few 
pots  and  kettles  when  not  in  use,  their  birch-bark 
dishes  and  plates,  and  their  few  other  earthly 
possessions.  The  fire  was  guarded  by  four  green 
sticks  about  as  large  as  a  man's  arm,  laid  about 
it  in  a  square  and  about  two  feet  from  it,  and  it 
was  a  matter  of  etiquette  that  no  one  should  put 
his  feet  beyond  those  sticks,  no  matter  how  cold 
his  feet  might  be. 

Somehow  the  fire  did  not  seem  to  burn  as 
brightly  that  night  in  his  wigwam  as  in  the  oth 
ers  he  had  passed,  and  he  noticed  that  his  wife's 
face  was  clouded  and  anxious.  Still  he  made 
no  inquiry,  but  flung  down  his  bag  of  ducks,  be 
stowed  his  gun  and  paddle  in  the  sides  of  the 
wigwam,  thrusting  them  between  the  birch  bark 
and  the  poles,  where  they  were  firmly  held,  and 
then  took  his  accustomed  seat  on  the  mat  oppo- 


THE  OJIBWAY  15 

site  the  door.  He  felt  tired,  and  the  rest  was 
good.  Soon  his  wife  placed  on  the  clean  mat 
beside  him  a  birch  bark  dish  of  delicious  steam 
ing  duck,  another  birch  bark  dish  of  cooked  wild 
rice,  and  a  bark  cup  of  hot  duck  broth. 
Here  was  a  feast  fit  for  a  tired  hunter,  and  he  did 
the  ample  justice  to  it  which  a  man  should  who 
had  tramped  all  day,  and  tasted  nothing  since 
the  morning.  At  last  he  put  the  empty  dishes 
away  from  him  with  a  gesture  of  satisfaction, 
and  getting  out  the  mixture  of  the  dried  inner 
bark  of  the  red  willow  mixed  with  a  little  tobac 
co,  which  he  was  accustomed  to  smoke,  and  his 
long-stemmed  wooden  pipe,  proceeded  further 
to  make  himself  comfortable. 


CHAPTER  II. 

! 

TROUBLE  IN  THE  WIGWAM. 

His  wife  now  began  to  speak.  She  was  a 
comely  Indian  woman  of  about  forty,  about  the 
same  age  as  himself.  She  was  dressed  in  a 
short  garment  made  of  well-tanned  deerskin, 
which  covered  her  body,  but  left  her  arms,  and 
legs  from  the  knees,  bare.  The  materials  for 
civilized  costume  were  not  very  plenty  at  that 
remote  place  in  those  days,  and  she  conformed 
to  the  general  custom.  Her  feet  were  encased 
in  the  usual  moccasins.  Her  abundant  black 
hair  was  parted  in  the  middle,  oiled  with  some 
kind  of  grease,  and,  plaited  in  two  braids,  hung 
down  her  back  almost  to  her  waist. 

"Indeed,"  she  said,  "I  am  very  much  afraid 
about  our  daughter,  and  though  it  was  on  my 
mind  I  didn't  want  to  speak  to  you  about  it  be 
fore  you  had  had  your  supper.  I  knew  you  were 
tired  tramping  all  day,  and  I  thought  to  myself, 
Met  him  have  his  supper  in  peace  before  I  begin 
to  say  anything ;  for  I  know  if  I  tell  him  what  I 
have  to  tell  him  he  will  not  be  able  to  eat.'  But 
this  day  I  became  really  alarmed  about  our 
daughter,  who  is  lying  there. ' '  Here  she  pointed 
to  a  figure,  enveloped  in  a  blanket,  which  lay 
upon  the  mat  at  one  of  the  sides  of  the  wigwam, 
and  of  which  not  even  the  face  was  visible,  the 
blanket  being  drawn  over  the  head  in  the  usual 


THE  OJIBWAY  17 

manner  of  Indians  when  sleeping.    The  figure 
had  not  moved  since  the  hunter  came  in. 

' '  This  day,  for  the  first  time,  while  you  were 
gone,  I  really  became  alarmed  about  her.  She 
coughs  so  much,  and  she  raises  so  much  cough 
ing,  and  look  here,"  she  said,  with  increasing 
agitation,  "what  bad  stuff  she  spits  out,"  taking 
a  bark  cup  and  showing  the  contents  to  her  hus 
band.  "And  I  notice  she  is  getting  thinner  and 
thinner,  and  she  cannot  eat.  To-day,  though,  I 
set  to  work  and  cooked  her  the  nicest  things  I 
could  find,  yet  she  could  not  eat  them.  But  what 
alarmed  me  most  of  all  to-day  was  that  once  she 
almost  fainted,  and  it  looks  to  me  as  if  I  might 
lose  my  daughter ;  and  if  I  lose  her  what  shall  I 
do?"  Here  she  began  to  cry  in  a  low,  heart 
broken  way,  for  she  would  not  make  much  noisq 
lest  she"  should  wake  her  sleeping  child.  "I 
would  not  say  this  before  her,"  she  continued, 
"for  it  would  make  her  feel  badly,  and  might 
make  her  worse;  but  I  tell  it  to  you  when  she 
does  not  hear  me,  that  you  may  consider  what  is 
to  be  done.  Oh!  I  have  lost  so  many  children 
that  I  am  almost  heart-broken,  and  now  if  I  lose 
this  last  one  of  all,  oh,  what  shall  1  do?" 

Here,  though  she  restrained  her  voice  from 
loud  weeping,  violent  sobs  shook  her.  "Oh,  my 
daughter,  my  daughter!"  she  moaned;  "what 
shall  I  do  if  you  leave  me?" 

The  hunter  was  deeply  saddened  by  what  his 
wife  told  him.  He  did  not  weep  like  her,  but 
his  anxiety  and  distress  were  quite  as  great. 
He  laid  aside  his  pipe  and  did  not  smoke.  His 
head  sunk  down  in  deep  meditation  and  great 


18  THE  OJIBWAY 

sadness.  He  had  not  noticed  these  threatening 
symptoms  in  his  child  so  keenly  as  his  wife  had, 
and  her  words  went  like  daggers  to  his  heart. 
He  was  dependent  on  her  about  such  things,  and 
his  heart  rose  and  fell  with  her.  If  she  had 
hope  he  felt  the  greatest  elation;  if  she  des 
paired  he  wast  cast  into  the  depths  of  despair. 
About  hunting  and  the  business  of  life  he  was 
his  own  master,  but  when  a  sick  child  was  in 
question  he  watched  her  with  the  greatest 
anxiety. 

"Well,"  he  said  at  length,  speaking  in  a  kind 
of  stony  despair,  "  there  is  only  one  thing  to  be 
done.  There  are  medicine-men  here  who  make 
it  their  business  to  cure  sickness.  They  have 
been  given  power,  it  seems,  to  do  such  things. 
The  People*  all  rely  on  them,  The  Spirits 
have  given  them  power,  and  help  them.  To 
morrow  morning  I  shall  go  and  bring  one  of 
them  here  to  doctor  her.  It  is  seldom  that  one 
of  them  fails.  Sometimes  only,  if  some  one  is 
destined  for  death,  they  fail;  but  if  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  life  to  be  had,  they  do  not  fail. ' ' 

"I  suppose/'  said  his  wife  in  a  low  tone,  so 
as  not  to  wake  the  sleeper,  "that  is  the  only 
thing  we  can  do,  though  I  do  hate  to  give  away 
our  wealth  to  them.  They  charge  very  high  for 
their  services.  We  shall  have  to  give  them 
presents  of  the  best  we  have,  and  nearly  every 
thing  we  have,  to  get  them  to  undertake  it. 
There  are  those  beautiful  blankets  of  mine.  I 
worked  hard  many  and  many  a  day  making  wild 

*The  Ojibways  call  all  Indians  Anishinabeg  from  Anlsha  (with 
out  cause  or  spontaneous)  and  Inabewsl  (he  appears)  :  so  it 
means  spontaneous  man  or  may  b«  translated  as  here  The  People. 


THE  OJIBWAY  19 

rice  last  fall,  and  traded  that  rice  to  the  traders 
for  those  beautiful  new  blankets,  and  now  they 
must  go.  And  only  last  month  I  came  back 
from  the  sugar  camp  from  making  maple  sugar. 
That  is  where  our  daughter  took  cold.  How  I 
did  toil  and  slave  night  and  day,  carrying  sap 
in  birch-bark  pails  all  day  long  in  the  deep, 
melting  snows,  wet  up  to  my  waist  all  the  time ; 
and  then  sitting  up  all  night  boiling  the  sap, 
hardly  sleeping  and  hardly  ever  resting  all  dur 
ing  The  Sap-boiling  Moon  (April) !  And  now 
that  sugar  will  have  to  go;  and  not  only  that, 
but  our  pots  and  kettles,  and  our  food,  and 
pretty  nearly  everything  we  have  to  live  on. ' ' 

"Oh  well,"  said  he,  "it  is  better  to  give  all 
that  than  to  see  our  daughter  die,  the  only  child 
we  have  left.  It  is  true  we  shall  have  to  give 
away  about  all,  and  have  only  a  frame  of  a  wig 
wam  left,  and  our  bodies.  But  there  are  ani 
mals  out  on  the  prairie  and  in  the  woods,  and 
they  have  valuable  furs  on  their  backs ;  and  there 
are  traders  living  somewhere,  three  or  four 
days'  journey  off,  who  are  anxious  to  get  those 
furs,  and  who  will  give  us  in  exchange  blankets 
for  them  as  good  as  these,  and  pots  and  kettles 
and  sugar,  too ;  and  I  propose  to  go  and  get  the 
furs  from  the  backs  of  those  animals,  even  if  I 
have  to  follow  them  for  days  and  days  till  I 
drop.  I  would  rather  do  that  than  lose  my 
daughter,  and  I  know  you  would,  too,  when  you 
think  of  it.' ' 

"It  is  not  certain, "  the  woman  replied,  "that 
the  Medicine-men  can  cure  our  daughter,  even 
if  we  do  give  them  everything  we  have.  When 


20  THE  OJIBWAY 

my  other  children  were  sick  I  had  them  doctor 
them,  and  yet  they  died.  And  mayhe  it  will  be 
so  again.  But  yet  we  can  not  stand  by  and  see 
our  daughter  die.  We  must  do  something,  and 
this  seems  the  best  thing  we  can  do." 

This  consultation  over,  and  sorrowful  con 
clusion  arrived  at,  they  each  addressed  them 
selves  to  their  several  ways;  she  to  her  house 
wifely  duties  and  thinking,  and  he  to  his  smok 
ing  and  no  less  deep  meditation.  Then,  without 
making  any  noise  that  might  awake  her,  she 
gently  spread  over  her  sleeping  child  an  addi 
tional  covering,  that  she  might  not  take  cold, 
and  soon  they  also  stretched  themselves  out  on 
their  mat,  and  silence  and  sorrow  reigned  in  the 
wigwam. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TRYING  TO  GET  BID  OF  THE  TROUBLE. 

The  next  morning,  after  his  hasty  morning 
meal,  Yellow  Thunder  presented  himself  at  the 
wigwam  of  Men-we-we-gi-zhik  (Good-Sound 
ing-Sky.  He  was  the  acknowledged  Head  Grand 
Medicine-man  of  the  Ojibway  nation,  and 
if  -any  one  could  cure  the  sick  one,  he 
could.  His  reputation  extended  all  over  the 
Ojibway  country;  and  from  villages  five  days' 
journey  (one  hundred  miles)  or  more  distant 
the  sick  were  carried  by  their  friends  and  laid 
before  him  for  him  to  heal  them.  With  them 
were  brought  valuable  presents;  blankets, 
guns,  traps,  maple  sugar,  beadwork;  whatever 
the  Ojibway  counted  most  valuable ;  which  were 
laid  down  at  his  feet  in  payment  for  his  services. 
His  deceased  father  had  been  Great  Grand  Med 
icine-man  before  him;  and  he  had  taught  him 
all  his  art  and  skill;  so  it  was  in  him  both  by 
training  and  inheritance.  On  account  of  the 
valuable  presents  he  continually  received  for 
doctoring  the  sick,  his  substance  was  greater 
than  that  of  any  of  the  other  Indians,  even  the 
most  successful  hunters.  His  wigwam  never 
lacked  venison,  wild  rice,  and  food  of  all  kinds, 
and  he  had  also  blankets,  pots,  and  kettles  more 
than  any  other  Indian.  And  all  this  although 
he  rarely  went  hunting,  devoting  himself  par- 


22  THE  OJIBWAY 

ticularly  to  the  practice  of  his  art.  The  others 
hunted  and  endured  the  severe  labor ;  he  stayed 
at  home,  but  reaped  a  share  of  the  fruits  of  their 
toil.  From  the  style  in  which  he  lived  and  the 
abundance  of  everything  desirable  that  he  had, 
he  was  rather  the  nabob  of  the  little  village. 

When  our  hunter  drew  near  to  the  door  of 
his  wigwam  and  raised  the  skin  that  covered 
the  opening,  there  sat  Good-Sounding-Sky  on  a 
mat  behind  the  fire,  in  the  usual  seat  of  honor, 
solacing  himself  by  singing  a  chant,  accompa 
nied  by  the  beating  of  his  drum.  This  he  held 
aloft  in  one  hand,  while  with  the  other  he  beat 
it.  His  legs  were  folded  under  him  as  he  sat, 
his  face  directed  upwards,  his  lips  parted; 
and  there  was  a  look  of  ecstasy  on  his 
face,  called  forth  by  his  musical  efforts.  The 
effect  of  his  singing  was  evidently  very  pleasing 
to  himself,  and  as  it  proceeded  inspired  him 
more  and  more  with  a  belief  in  his  own  powers. 
His  wife  was  going  about  her  usual  household 
tasks,  and  the  chanting  seemed  to  please  her, 
and  formed  a  sort  of  accompaniment  to  her 
work.  His  little  son,  a  dirty-faced,  but  bright, 
black-eyed,  pretty  little  boy,  had  stopped  in  his 
play  to  listen  to  his  father,  and  was  looking  at 
him  with  undisguised  admiration. 

The  chant  was  pitched  beginning  with  a  high, 
clear  note,  and  gradually  falling,  but  with  many 
attempts  at  recovery,  according  to  the  usual  way 
of  Indian  singing,  until  it  ended  in  a  very  low 
note.  Then  the  singer  took  it  up  again  in  its 
pristine  height  and  clearness,  until  once  more 
it  gradually  descended.  So  it  kept  on  a  long 


THE  OJIBWAY  23 

time.  The  general  effect  of  the  continual  re 
currence  to  the  high,  clear  note  with  which  it 
started  was  to  give  one  the  feeling  of  being 
roused  and  excited,  as  if  there  were  continual 
impacts  of  energy  coming  into  one.  The  par 
ticular  chant  which  the  singer  happened  then 
to  be  singing  was  one  on  which  he  entered  with 
zest,  for  it  was  about  himself.  It  was : 

"Men-we-we-gi-zhik   o-dibendan    Kagiashkonskag 
"Enendunk  Jshiwebutini." 

Two  lines,  of  which  the  first  Was 

"Good-Sounding-Sky  is  the  Lord  of  Gull  Lake," 

and  the  second, 

"As  he  wills  a  thing  to  be,  so  it  comes  to  pass." 

He  was  exalting  his  own  powers  as  a  healer 
of  the  sick  and  Grand  Medicine-man,  one  who 
was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  powers  above. 
He  magnified  his  office  and  kept  his  courage  up 
for  the  more  effectual  discharge  of  his  duties, 
both  for  the  effect  upon  himself,  that,  being  in 
a  state  of  exaltation,  his  powers  might  work 
more  strongly,  and  also  for  the  effect  on  others ; 
both  the  sick  and  the  well;  who  could  only 
be  influenced,  and  the  sick  cured,  by  seeing  that 
he  had  unbounded  confidence  in  himself.  A, 
halting,  hesitating,  or  fearful  way  of  proceeding 
would  pre-doom  him  to  failure,  but  the  undoubt- 
ing  assertion  of  his  powers  carried  him  success 
fully  along;  and  others,  the  sick  and  the  well, 
along  with  him.  Therefore  not  merely  to  gratify 
his  vanity  and  self-love,  but  in  order  that  he 
might  successfully  accomplish  what  he  wished 
to  do,  and  raise  up  the  sick,  he  habitually  held 
himself  high. 


24  THE  OJIBWAY 

When  the  visitor  entered,  Good-Sounding-Sky 
took  no  notice  of  him  for  some  time,  but  held 
on  in  the  same  lofty  strain,  reiterating  again  and 
again  that  "he  was  lord  of  Gull  Lake,  and  that 
whatever  he  destined  came  to  pass,"  in  order 
to  properly  impress  the  man,  and  that  he  might 
be  sufficiently  plastic  to  receive  whatever  stamp 
he  later  should  see  fit  to  impress  upon  him.  When 
he  judged  that  his  visitor  had  been  sufficiently 
impressed  he  ceased,  and  gave  hrm  an  opportu 
nity  to  tell  his  errand. 

Our  hunter  had  meanwhile  been  deeply  im 
pressed  with  the  confided  assertion  of  supernat 
ural  powers  so  boldly  and  perseveringly  claimed, 
and  which  had  been  borne  in  upon  him  with  the 
divine  force  of  music.  He  realized  that  he  was 
in  the  presence  of  a  very  great  being.  It  w&s 
therefore  with  much  inward  humbleness  of  mind 
that  he  addressed  him.  Then  his  mind  reverted 
to  the  pale  little  figure  in  his  wigwam,  and  hope 
revived  in  his  breast  that  here  was  the  one  who 
could  restore  her  to  the  flush  of  health.  He 
thought,  too,  of  his  sorrowful  wife,  and  that  here 
also  was  the  medicine  for  her  woes. 

"I  see  you  have  very  great  powers  given 
you, ' '  he  meekly  observed. 

"Yes,"  said  the  medicine-man,  "I  can  do  al 
most  anything.  I  can  cause  a  very  great  storm 
to  arise ;  again,  I  can  lay  the  winds  at  pleasure. 
A  few  days  ago  a  stranger  came  to  our  lake  here 
to  go  across.  I  went  to  him  and  asked  him  to 
give  me  tribute.  He  laughed  at  me  and  asked 
what  he  should  give  me  tribute  for.  I  told  him 
in  order  that  he  might  have  a  fair  passage  across 


THE  OJIBWAY  25 

the  lake.  I  told  him  that  if  he  did  not  I  would 
begin  to  sing  and  chant,  and  would  raise  such 
a  storm  upon  him  when  was  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  lake  that  very  likely  he  would  be  drowned. 
He  laughed  again,  and  told  me  to  sing  all  I 
wanted  to ;  that  he  had  no  fear  of  my  being  able 
to  do  any  such  thing  by  my  foolish  singing.  With 
that  he  jumped  into  his  canoe  and  started  across. 
When  he  was  about  half  way  over  I  began  to 
chant  my  medicine  songs  and  beat  my  drum,  and 
sure  enough !  a  fearful  storm  of  wind  sprung  up, 
and  soon  I  saw  the  poor  man  struggling  for  life 
in  the  billows.  Oh  how  he  wished  he  had  not 
made  light  of  me  and  my  powers !  The  waves 
filled  his  canoe  and  there  he  was  in  the  water 
holding  on  to  it  trying  to  keep  his  chin  above. 
I  never  saw  such  a  distressful  night!  At  first 
I  thought  I  would  let  him  drown  as  he  deserved 
to,  then  I  began  to  feel  pity  for  the  poor  devil ; 
so  I  eased  up  on  him.  I  stopped  singing  just 
as  he  was  about  to  drown,  and  as  I  did  so  the 
wind  ceased,  so  he  was  just  barely  able  at  last  to 
crawl  ashore.  Be  he  lost  his  canoe,  his  gun,  his 
traps,  and  all  his  property.  He  was  a  stranger 
in  this  part  of  the  country  and  did  not  know 
who  I  was,  or  he  never  would  have  done  such  a 
foolish  thing.  Had  it  not  been  that  I  took  pity 
on  him  just  before  the  end  came,  he  would  have 
lost  his  life." 

"He  was  indeed  a  very  foolish  man  to  defy 
you,"  said  Yellow  Thunder,  "but  he  did  not 
know  what  powers  you  had. '  > 

"Another  time,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "I 
was  out  in  the  woods  hunting,  when  I  spied  a 


2G  THE  OJIBWAY 

moose  a  long  distance  off.  Instead  of  trying  to 
kill  him  I  thought  I  would  try  the  power  of  my 
medicine  over  him.  So  I  began  to  sing  one  of 
my  medicine  songs,  and  do  you  know !  the  power 
of  my  singing  was  so  great  that  that  moose  stood 
stock  still  and  listened !  Then  I  came  toward 
our  village  here,  still  singing,  and  do  you  know ! 
I  had  made  that  moose  so  silly  that  he  followed 
me  right  here  to  my  wigwam.  I  declare  I  almost 
died  with  laughing  at  that  moose!  Never  saw 
anything  look  so  silly  in  my  life  as  he  did." 
Here  he  laughed  again,  most  heartily,  at  the  rec 
ollection  of  it. 

"Did  you  kill  him?"  inquired  Yellow  Thun 
der. 

"No,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "I  was  too 
much  overcome  with  the  ridiculousness  of  the 
way  that  moose  looked  to  do  anything  but  laugh. 
By  and  by,  when  I  ceased  singing,  because  I  was 
laughing  so  hard  I  could  not  sing,  his  senses 
came  back  to  him ;  and  he  just  took  one  look  at 
the  wigwams  around  him,  and  off  he  darted  back 
into  the  woods. ' ' 

"Your  medicine  is  certainly  powerful,"  said 
Yellow  Thunder. 

"Yes,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "there  is 
my  little  son,  Na-me-gos  (The  Trout).  I  intend 
to  make  him  just  as  powerful  a  medicine-man  as 
I  am  myself.  I  have  already  begun  to  work 
upon  him,  and  to  endue  him  with  supernatural 
powers.  I  have  already  put  him  through  a 
course,  and  I  intend  to  make  him  immortal.  Do 
you  wish  to  know  how  far  I  have  progressed! 
Well  I  will  tell  you.  I  lately  put  him  under  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  27 

w*ater  for  three  days,  and  when  I  took  him  out 
he  was  still  living.  You  see  him  playing  there ; 
you  see  how  healthy  and  well  he  is.  Here  is  the 
song  that  I  sang,  and  by  the  power  of  it  and  by 
the  power  of  my  medicine  he  was  kept  alive. 

With  that  he  began  to  sing,  accompanied  as 
before  by  the  beating  of  his  drum. 

"Nesogwon  gi-agwindjing,  Kawin  botch  gl-nibosi." 

"Three  days  he  was  under  the  water,  and  yet  he  did  not  die." 

" Do. you  see  that  lake/'  he  went  on  to  say, 
pointing  to  the  sheet  of  water  on  which  their 
village  was  situated.  It  was  perhaps  seven 
miles  long,  was  narrow  at  the  upper  end,  then 
widened  out  very  much,  so  as  to  be  three  miles 
across,  then  narrowed  again  at  the  lower  end 
where  the  river  ran  out  of  it.  There  were  also 
some  rocky  islets  in  it. 

"You  see  that  lake?"  said  Good-Sounding- 
Sky.  "Well,  that  lake  is  I.  I  am  the  god  that 
is  under  it,  and  that  lake  is  an  outward  repre 
sentation  of  me.  Do  you  see  that  upper  part 
where  it  is  so  narrow.  That  is  my  feet,  and 
that  is  why  it  is  so  narrow.  Then  you  see  where 
it  widens  out  in  the  middle  and  is  so  broad? 
That  is  my  body  and  shoulders.  Then  do  you 
see  that  narrow  place  at  the  lower  end!  That 
is  where  my  head  is.  And  do  you  see  those  rocky 
islets  in  the  middle  ?  Those  are  the  spines  of  my 
backbone.  I  am  the  god  under  that  lake,  and 
my  body  is  partly  visible  in  those  spines.  You 
can  see  for  yourself  that  I  am  a  god." 

Yellow  Thunder  was  wonderfully  encour 
aged  by  this  recital  of  supernatural  powers  and 


28  THE  OJIBWAY 

supernatural  achievements.  He  had  been  think 
ing  of  his  little  daughter  all  the  time  he  had 
been  listening ;  he  had  been  estimating  it  all  with 
reference  to  her.  Here  was  undoubted  power, 
adequate  to  all  needs.  His  mind  was  filled  with 
hope,  his  heart  with  joy.  Then  he  addressed 
him. 

"Our  little  daughter, "  he  said,  "is  not  very 
well.  She  is  drooping  for  some  reason,  although 
there  is  nothing  much  the  matter  with  her,"— 
this  last  he  added  as  a  sort  of  consolation  to 
himself,— "and  my  wife  and  I  wish  you  to  come 
over  as  soon  as  you  can  and  bring  your  instru 
ments  with  you,  and  doctor  her.  Such  men  as 
you  have  power  given  to  them,"— this  he  said 
in  sincere  homage  to  what  he  had  just  heard,— 
4 '  and  we  wish  you  to  save  our  daughter. ' '  Then, 
after  a  pause,  he  added,  "I  wish  to  say  that  we 
will  try  to  do  well  by  you  out  of  what  we  have, 
and  we  wish  you  to  exert  your  powers  to  the  very 
utmost.  We  think  everything  of  our  child,  the 
last  child  we  have,  and  we  will  not  scruple  at  any 
thing  if  you  will  only  cure  her. ' '  So  saying  he 
laid  down  a  present  of  a  haunch  of  vension,  some 
wild  rice,  and  a  piece  of  red  cloth  got  from  the 
trader  in  exchange  for  many  skins,  whose 
bright  color  was  just  the  thing  to  take  an  In 
dian  's  eye.  All  this  as  a  preliminary,  a  re 
taining  fee,  as  it  were ;  more  might  be  expected 
to  follow. 

The  Medicine-man  accepted  the  present,  not 
too  eagerly,  but  with  a  proper  reserve.  Perhaps 
graciously  would  be  the  proper  word  to  use  to 
express  the  manner  of  his  acceptance.  A  man 


THE  OJIBWAY  29 

with  such,  powers  as  he  was  entitled  to  the 
tribute,  and  to  kindly  receive  it  was  all  that 
could  be  asked. 

"Well,"  he  said,  "I  shall  go  and  doctor  your 
daughter,  and  I  shall  be  extremely  glad  that  she 
should  get  well.  It  is  very  seldom  indeed  that 
my  powers  fail;  only  once  in  a  great  while  if 
a  person  is  fairly  destined  to  death,  then  in 
deed  I  am  unable  to  save  them;  but  nearly 
always,  I  might  say  always,  I  am  able  to  save 
the  sick." 

With  this  comfortable  assurance  Yellow  Thun 
der  rose  and  with  good  hope  in  his  heart  went 
back  to  his  wigwam  to  tell  his  wife  to  prepare 
for  their  distinguished  visitor. 

Soon,  while  they  were  sitting  in  silence  ex 
pecting  him,  having  their  daughter  propped  up 
in  an  easy  position,  and  with  hope  from  the  ex 
pected  visit  of  the  one  who  was  to  cure  her  giv 
ing  a  new  life  to  her  pallid  face,  the  Medicine 
man  came.  But  before  he  entered  the  door  he 
struck  up  a  chant,  accompanying  himself  with 
the  beating  of  his  drum ;  and  in  this  he  continued 
a  long  time  before  he  deigned  to  enter  at  all.  It 
was  a  victorious,  exultant  outburst,  in  which  he 
recited  and  exulted  in  his  powers,  and  rejoiced 
in  a  victory  already  won.  There  was  no  doubt, 
no  hesitation  in  his  proceedings.  He  was  the 
conscious  victor  and  the  hunter  and  his  wife  and 
the  sick  girl,  as  they  looked  at  him,  felt  the 
contagion  of  his  enthusiasm  and  they,  too,  re 
joiced  in  an  already  assured  cure.  As  he  sang, 
his  face  was  ecstatically  turned  upward;  the 
drum  held  aloft  with  one  hand,  while  with  the 


30  THE  OJIBWAY 

other  he  beat  it,  and  its  every  throb  went  to  the 
heart  of  the  listeners. 

His  chant  was  one  line  repeated  over  and  over. 

"Ni  Manidow,  ta-hi-yo,  tchibekunank  ondji  Manidowiyan,  wiu- 
jrushk."  "I  am  a  God  :  ta-hi-yo  ;  from  the  road  of  the  dead  coming, 
a  God,  herbs  make  me  so." 

The  "ta-hi-yo"  is  an  exulting  exclamation, 
the  words  being  without  meaning. 

Not  only  was  he  a  "manido,"  but  he  came 
from  the  underground  world,  the  regions  of  the 
dead ;  therefore  a  very  powerful  one. 

His  whole  appearance  as  he  chanted  these 
words  was  that  of  exaltation,  exhilaration,  pow 
er.  Now  the  hunter  and  his  wife  placed  before 
him  a  dish  of  the  best  food  they  had,  and  also 
the  precious  blankets,  dear  to  the  heart  of  the 
woman.  Good-Sounding-Sky  saw  them  approv 
ingly,  but  did  not  touch  them,  and  now  deigned 
to  come  within  the  wigwam.  He  squatted  down 
on  the  ground  beside  the  sick  girl,  and  after 
partaking  of  the  food  got  down  to  business.  He 
had  in  his  hand  his  Grand  Medicine  rattle,  en 
dued  with  mysterious  powers,  and  this  he  shook 
over  her  a  thousand  times,  with  many  a  "whe- 
ho-ho-ho-o. "  He  used  all  sorts  of  incanta 
tions  to  exorcise  the  evil  spirit  that  was  afflicting 
her  and  recited  endless  formulas  which  he  had 
learned  from  his  father  and  from  the  old  Medi 
cine-men  before  him.  He  called  on  great  num 
bers  of  gods  to  help  him;  gods  who  lived  in 
many  different  places.  He  made  himself  hoarse, 
and  he  made  himself  tired,  with  his  continued 
exertions,  and  certainly  tried  faithfully  and 
with  honesty  of  purpose  to  cure  the  girl. 
He  had  a  great  natural  sympathy  for  the  father 


THE  OJIBWAY  31 

and  mother,  as  well  as  for  the  sick  girl, 
and  he  was  anxious  for  their  sakes,  as 
a  friend  and  neighbor,  and  not  only  for  his  own 
credit,  to  succeed.  He  tried  all  ways  and  did 
the  best  he  could  and  the  best  he  knew.  Some 
times  he  would  fall  to  sucking  with  great  ve 
hemence  at  a  particular  place,  as  the  child's  arm, 
and  after  a  little  with  great  effort  would  bring 
out  of  his  mouth  a  piece  of  bone  or  a  nail  or  a 
bug  which  he  declared  he  had  got  out  of  her 
body  and  which  had  been  the  cause  of  the  trou 
ble.  This  pious  fraud  he  had  become  so  used  to 
in  his  profession  that  he  hardly  knew  it  was  a 
fraud. 

The  girl  at  first  was  pleased  at  being  the  ob 
ject  of  so  much  attention ;  and  hope  buoyed  her 
up  that  she  would  soon  get  well,  and  be  run 
ning  about  playing  as  the  other  girls  were.  Was 
not  here  the  Great  Medicine-man  shaking  his  rat 
tle  over  her,  determined  to  make  her  well  ?  And 
did  he  not  have  power?  Yes,  she  was  not  aban 
doned  to  be  sick  as  she  had  been  for  the  last  few 
days.  Here  was  an  effort  made  to  get  her  well, 
and  she  would  get  well.  That  was  her  high  re 
solve.  So  she  fell  in  with  the  pullings  and  haul- 
ings  that  he  used  upon  her,  and  w>as  receptive 
and  responsive  to  all  his  treatment. 

But  when  night  drew  on  and  she  could  not 
sleep  for  his  shaking  the  rattle  over  her  and 
drumming  and  singing  at  her  ear;  and  for  his 
pulling  her  head  and  her  arms  this  way  and  that 
way,  and  for  his  falling  to  and  sucking  at  some 
new  part  of  her  anatomy  to  get  out  some  new 
cause  of  her  sickness;  and  when  this  was  con- 


32  THE  OJIBWAY 

tinned  night  and  day,  almost  without  intermis 
sion,  for  three  days,  except  sometimes  when  for 
a  very  short  time  he  himself  was  borne  down 
with  sleep  she  began  to  get  very  tired  of  it  and 
to  long  for  rest,  and  it  was  very  evident  to  her 
parents  that,  whatever  the  ultimate  result  might 
be,  for  the  present  at  least  her  condition  had 
not  improved.  So  at  the  end  of  three  days  and 
nights,  during  which  he  had  almost  continuously 
practiced  his  spells  and  done  his  best,  certainly 
exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  as  they  had  been 
witnesses,  the  Grand  Medicine-man,  with  the 
consent  of  all  parties,  gave  it  up  and  moved 
away.  Before  he  went  he  spread  out  one  of  the 
blankets  and  put  in  it  all  the  rest  of  the  articles 
which  had  been  given  him  as  his  fee:  furs,  ma 
ple  sugar,  wild  rice,  white  cotton  cloth,  red  cloth, 
tanned  deerskin,  and  other  things,  and  making 
a  great  pack  of  it  all,  took  it  off  with  him.  And 
in  it  went  much  of  the  wealth  of  the  wigwam. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FUKTHER  EFFORTS  TO  GET  RID  OF  THE  TROUBLE. 

It  had  now  become  pretty  well  known  in  the 
village  that  the  daughter  of  Yellow  Thunder  was 
sick,  and  as  she  was  the  only  remaining  child, 
and  the  family  was  well  liked,  there  was  much 
sympathy  shown  to  them,  which  manifested  itself 
in  many  ways. 

An  old  woman  appeared  in  the  wigwam,  and 
looking  at  the  pale  sufferer  gave  vent  to  her 
long-drawn  Indian  woman's  exclamation  of  sur 
prise  and  grief. 

"Ny-a-a-a— my  daughter;  and  are  you  sick 
my  daughter  V '  And  then  going  to  her  she  kiss 
ed  her  with  a  kiss,  ending  with  a  resounding 
smack,  in  a  way  that  certainly  lacked  nothing  in 
heartiness.  ' l  Cheer  up,  my  daughter, ' '  she  said 
as  she  stood  contemplating  her.  *  '  There  is  noth 
ing  going  to  happen  to  you,  my  daughter.  The 
Indians  would  not  do  such  a  thing  as  that,  as  not 
to  take  means  to  save  you.  They  are  powerful 
when  they  all  put  their  minds  to  a  thing.  And 
they  have  the  Grand  Medicine  to  cure  the  sick; 
that  is  what  it  was  given  to  them  for.  And  they 
will  assemble,  all  of  them,  and  have  the  Grand 
Medicine  rites  over  you,  my  daughter.  Every 
one  of  them  will  put  their  strength  into  it,  and 
all  the  old  men,  who  know  exactly  how  to  make 
the  Medicine  right,  will  be  there,  and  doing  their 


34  THE  OJIBWAY 

best.  And  when  all  the  people  get  together  and 
use  the  Grand  Medicine  for  you  you  will  cer 
tainly  get  well.  Don't  think  anything  because 
one  Medicine-man  failed,  my  daughter."  Here 
she  kissed  her  affectionately  again.  ' '  That  often 
happens.  One  man  alone  may  be  weak  at  any 
thing,  but  when  they  all  get  together  about  it 
they  will  be  powerful.  There  was  my  nephew. 
He  was  far  thinner  than  you  are ;  wasted  away ; 
nothing  but  skin  and  bones ;  and  we  all  thought 
he  was  going  to  die ;  but  they  made  Grand  Med 
icine  for  him;  three  days;  and  from  that  very 
time  he  began  to  get  well,  and  now  he  is  FAT. 
That  will  be  the  case  with  you,  my  daughter,  so 
cheer  up.  And  it  is  not  only  my  nephew,  but 
all  the  Indians  who  are  living:  it  is  on  account 
of  the  Grand  Medicine  that  they  are  living,  for 
there  is  hardly  one  of  them  who  has  not  been 
brought  through  some  deadly  sickness  by  having 
had  it  made  over  him. ' ' 

Here  she  turned  her  attention  to  the  girl's 
mother,  and  had  equally  good  words  of  cheer 
for  her,  calling  her  "my  sister,"  kissing  her, 
and  showing  the  most  genuine  spirit  of  love.  No 
one  could  have  shown  more  real  kindness  and 
given  more  real  help;  by  her  presence  and  by 
her  encouraging  words  than  she  did.  She  was 
followed  by  many  likeminded  in  the  course  of 
the  day;  the  stream  of  sympathy  in  the  village 
set  in  very  strongly  toward  that  wigwam  and  its 
sufferer.  By  how  many  scores  of  women  was  the 
girl  kissed  that  day  and  subsequent  days. 
By  many  were  she  and  her  mother  encouragingly 
talked  to!  The  visitors  were  mostly  women, 


THE  OJIBWAY  35 

but  the  men's  sympathies  were  almost  equally 
roused,  though  they  did  not  show  it  in  the  same 
way.  Occasionally  some  of  them  pulled  aside 
the  skin  door  and  looked  in  and  talked  awhile, 
but  only  the  women  kissed  her.  But  outside  the 
men  were  discussing  among  themselves  the  pro 
priety  of  having  a  great  celebration  of  the  Grand 
Medicine  rite  over  her. 

They  knew  that  Good-Sounding-Sky  had  sung 
over  her  for  three  days  with  his  rattle,  and  had 
practiced  his  incantations;  but  they  saw  that 
something  more  powerful  than  that  was  needed. 
They  saw  too  that  it  must  be  a  putting  forth  of 
the  strength  of  the  whole  community  directed  to 
a  common  object.  The  season  was  propitious, 
for  it  was  May,  and  so  favorable  for  the  suf 
ferer  to  sit  out  the  three  days  that  the  rites  would 
last.  They  began  therefore  to  inquire  among 
themselves  about  the  old  men,  who  were  in  a 
manner  the  High  Priests  of  the  rite;  who  knew 
the  ritual,  the  songs,  and  chants  that  should  be 
used,  and  the  proper  order  that  should  be  ob 
served.  And  so  it  began  to  be  rumored  about  the 
village  that  in  so  many  days  there  was  to  be 
a  grand  celebration  over  Yellow  Thunder's 
daughter. 

A  little  naked  boy  comes  staggering  along, 
with  his  dirty  face,  his  liquid  black  eyes  directed 
upwards  among  the  trees,  where  ^  he  is 
anxiously  looking  for  squirrels,  his  left 
holding  the  bow  directed  upward,  and  his 
right  hand  on  the  arrow  just  ready  to 
draw  it  as  soon  as  he  sees  his  little  victim. 
Behind  him  follows  his  sister,  younger  than 


36  THE  OJIBWAY 

he;  following  him  with  the  admiration  which 
a  younger  sister  has  for  her  bigger  brother. 
Not  looking  where  he  is  going,  his  eyes  being 
among  the  branches,  and  staggering  sideways, 
he  runs  against  a  wigwam.  Recalled  to  earth 
by  the  collision,  he  glances  at  it  long  enough  to 
recognize  whose  it  is,  then  says  to  his  sister: 
" There  is  a  girl  sick  in  there. "  "Is  she  going 
to  die?"  asks  his  little  admirer.  "It  seems 
not, ' '  he  answers ;  ' '  The  People  are  going  to  do 
something. ' ' 

The  next  minute  he  takes  a  sheer  off  to  one 
side  to  get  a  favorable  position  for  a  shot  at  the 
squirrel,  whose  head  he  has  espied  looking  down 
at  him  from  behind  a  limb,  and  has  forgotten  all 
about  the  sick  girl  and  everything  else. 

But  it  was  not  only  kind  words  and  kisses  that 
the  sick  girl  and  her  mother  received  from  so 
many  female  friends.  Here  comes  in  an  old 
woman  who  says :  ' l  See  here,  my  daughter,  what 
a  nice  thing  I  have  brought  you  to  eat ;  this  tastes 
so  nice,  and  it  will  make  you  strong.  I  cooked  it 
the  very  nicest  that  I  knew;  see  what  a  rich 
brown  it  is,  and  what  an  enticing  smell  it  has." 
With  that  she  presents  to  her  part  of  a  delic- 
iously  cooked  duck,  wrapped  in  a  piece  of  clean 
birch  bark.  The  invalid  puts  out  her  wasted 
hand  and  takes  it,  and  lays  it  on  her  bed.  And 
then  not  long  after  there  comes  in  another 
woman,  and  says:  "See  here  what  I  have 
brought  you!"  And  with  that  she  displays  a 
dainty  little  piece  of  new  maple  sugar,  a  cake  of 
fantastic  shape  run  into  a  mould  of  her  own 
making.  Soon  the  girl's  bed  is  covered  with 


THE  OJIBWAY  37 

dainties  of  all  kinds,  which  anxious  affection  has 
brought  her.  It  seems  as  if  the  village  thought 
of  her  alone. 

The  older  women  were  much  more  effusive  in 
their  kissing  and  in  their  demonstrations  of 
affection  than  the  younger.  The  latter  came  in 
and  looked,  and  their  eyes  and  the  expression  of 
their  faces  told  what  was  in  their  hearts,  but 
they  said  little  or  nothing,  and  rarely  kissed  the 
sufferer.  Sometimes  a  girl  of  her  own  age  would 
sit  down  beside  her  and  gently  kiss  her  without 
saying  anything. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SUPREME  EFFORT  TO  GET  RID  OF  THE  TROUBLE. 

At  last  the  day  had  come  for  a  supreme  effort. 
A  space  had  been  cleared  of  all  underbrush  on 
a  level  piece  of  land  just  outside  the  village  and 
overlooking  the  beautiful  lake.  Boughs  had 
been  stuck  in  the  ground  enclosing  an  oblong 
space,  large  enough  to  contain  the  entire  popu 
lation  of  the  village.  There  were  two  entrances, 
one  on  either  end  of  the  oblong  space.  There  was 
a  rope  of  deer's  hide  high  overhead  extending 
the  length  of  the  place,  and  upon  it  were  hung 
the  presents  which  were  given  at  this  grand  cele 
bration  of  their  great  religious  rite.  There  were 
pieces  of  bright  red  cloth,  greatly  valued  by 
them,  bought  from  distant  traders  at  the  cost  of 
many  skins.  There  was  white  cotton  cloth  sus 
pended,  and  there  were  blankets,  tanned  deer 
skins,  and  dressed  skins  of  all  kinds.  There  was 
a  representation  of  the  entire  wealth  of  the  com 
munity,  and  a  generous  part  of  it.  One  of  the 
principal  things  hanging  on  the  pole  overhead 
was  tobacco,  as  that  was  thought  to  have  mys 
terious  virtues.  These  were  the  presents  for 
the  venerable  men  who  were  to  conduct  the 
rite. 

Inside  the  enclosure  of  boughs  was  the  entire 
community,  some  of  the  children  only  excepted. 
The  men  and  women  each  had  their  Medicine 


THE  OJIBWAY  39 

Bags,  generally  the  skin  of  an  animal,  as  the 
otter,  beaver,  etc.,  handsomely  trimmed  with  silk 
ribbons  bought  at  great  cost.  Inside  of  these 
bags  was  the  precious  medicine,  both  bag  and 
medicine  forming  their  most  sacred  possession. 
Sometimes  these  medicine  bags  were  made  of 
human  skin ;  and  it  was  considered  that  the  medi 
cine  in  them  was  more  powerful.  About  the  cen-. 
tre  sat  the  oldest  men,  who  had  charge  of  the 
proceedings,  and  who  occasionally  sang  chants 
and  performed  ceremonies  in  an  archaic  tongue 
derived  from  former  geneations  of  Indians  long- 
ago,  many  words  of  which  were  hardly  under 
standable  by  the  people  present. 

Sometimes  they  were  all  in  motion  inside  the 
enclosure,  men  and  women  following  each  other, 
holding  their  medicine  bags  in  their  hands,  and 
occasionally  pointing  them  at  each  other  with 
a  "pooh"  in  imitation  of  the  report  of  a  gun,  on 
which  the  person  at  whom  the  bag  was  presented 
immediately  fell  down  as  if  shot  dead.  This 
was  to  show  the  strength  of  the  medicine  within. 
Sometimes,  again,  they  were  all  sitting  quietly 
on  the  ground,  only  the  head  men  chanting  and 
continuing  the  exercises.  Occupying  a  promi 
nent  position  in  the  midst  of  all  this  was  the 
sick  girl,  reclining  on  the  ground,  and  warmly 
covered.  Sometimes,  after  a  season  of  compara 
tive  quiet,  one  of  the  old  men  would  spring  up, 
and  holding  his  rattle  high  above  his  head,  ad 
vance  toward  the  isick  girl.  The  others  fol 
lowed,  each  holding  his  rattle  in  like  manner 
and  a  ring  was  formed  around  her.  Round  and 
round  they  went,  round  and  round,  faster  and 


SONG  OF  THE  MEDICINE  LODGE.—  Ojibway. 

Transcribed  and  harmonized 
M.  M.  J  =  160.  by  EDWIN  S.  TRACY. 

.         MM!     Ill      _  *  !     kVj 


CZ&  --  c^_^_q:___c0_^_^_p_ 


— . « — i — LU — i m 'J 


THE  OJIBWAY  41 

yet  faster,  while  the  chant  swelled  louder  and 
the  inspiring  drum  beats  caused  the  very  air  to 
throb.  Then  all  at  once  the  old  men  would  pre 
sent  their  medicine  bags  toward  the  girl,  the 
mouth  and  head  of  the  animal  from  whose  skin 
the  bag  was  made  pointing  directly  at  her  with 
grinning  teeth,  as  they  held  the  neck  with  one 
hand,  while  with  the  other  they  grasped  the 
tail  of  the  animal,  and  their  rattle;  there  was  a 
moment  of  expectation,  then  a  loud  "pooh"  as 
they  all  at  once  shot.  This  was  to  shoot  the 
good  medicine  into  her,  and  as  it  was  discharged 
into  her  in  a  regular  volley  from  all  around,  it 
was  most  powerful.  If  anything  could  cure  a 
sick  person  that  would. 

The  Medicine-men  called  on  endless  names  of 
gods  to  help  them;  gods  under  the  lakes,  gods 
under  the  rivers,  gods  of  the  bears,  of  all  the 
animals.  One  never  understood  till  now  how 
peopled  the  earth  was  with  spirits,  in  every 
part  of  it.  Many  strange  vows  were  made,  many 
wonderful  invocations. 

All  this  lasted  three  days  and  three  nights,  ex 
cept  when  they  went  home  before  midnight  for 
rest.  There  was  cooked  food  set  out  in  wooden 
and  birch  bark  dishes,  in  the  midst  of  the  enclos 
ure,  and  of  this,  they  partook  occasionally. 
There  was  wild  rice,  vension,  bear-meat  and 
many  other  kinds. 

Thus  for  three  days  the  entire  community  en 
gaged  in  a  contest  with  death;  every  man  and 
woman  took  part  in  it,  and  the  utmost  power 
of  them  all,  which  seemed  to  be  the  whole  hu 
man  race,  was  directed  to  rescuing  that  girl  from 


42  THE  OJIBWAY 

death.  It  was  partly  sympathy,  but  there  was 
also  in  it  self-interest.  It  was  to  see  if  they  were 
not  stronger  than  death.  Their  own  turn  might 
come  next  day  to  be  sick  and  would  they  have  to 
succumb  ?  Had  not  the  Great  Spirit  given  them 
the  means  to  cure  sickness!  Had  not  the  seven 
spirits  come  out  of  the  vasty  deep,  and  lived  with 
their  forefathers  a  long  time,  and  given  them  the 
Medewiwin  (the  Grand  Medicine)  from  the 
Great  Spirit,  by  which  they  were  to  ward  off 
the  ravages  of  disease  and  live  to  an  extreme  old 
age?  Here  then  was  a  case  to  apply  it  once  for 
all,  and  in  gaining  the  victory  for  the  sick  girl 
to  gain  it  also  for  themselves.  To  demonstrate 
by  this  striking  test  that  the  most  precious  thing 
they  had  on  earth,  the  Grand  Medicine  rite 
was  all,  in  efficacy,  that  they  were  told  it  was. 
That  the  Great  Spirit  had  not  mocked  them  in 
giving  them  that  inestimable  gift. 

They  were  a  little  community,  far  from  any 
other  human  beings.  Over  two  days'  journey 
(about  60  miles)  of  wilderness  separated  them 
from  the  Leech  Lake  Indians,  their  nearest 
neighbors  on  the  north,  and  a  somewhat  less  dis 
tance  (about  50  miles)  from  the  Mille  Lacs,  the 
next  nearest  on  the  southeast.  On  the  south 
they  were  about  six  days'  journey  (150  miles) 
from  the  Sioux,  while  west  it  was  perhaps  two 
days'  journey  to  the  Otter  Tail  band  of  Chip- 
pewas.  They  were  therefore  a  little  world  of 
themselves  when  they  entered  on  this  mighty 
contest.  It  is  true  they  had  had  celebrations 
of  the  Grand  Medicine  before  for  the  sick  and 
the  sick  had  died.  But  they  had  never  had  one 


THE  OJIBWAY  43 

on  which  they  had  entered  with  such  unanimity 
and  with  such  determination  to  succeed  as  in 
the  present  case.  It  seemed  to  them  that  they 
must  and  would  succeed  this  time.  And  they  had 
a  great  many  instances  in  mind  where  they  had 
succeeded ;  yes,  many  of  them  there  present  were 
living  instances  that  they  had  succeeded,  for  was 
it  not  the  Grand  Medicine  that  had  raised  them 
from  dangerous  sicknesses? 

At  last  the  long  rites  were  over,  the  supreme 
effort  made,  and  the  " medewi-gan, "  "the  en 
closure  of  the  celebration  of  the  Grand  Medi 
cine-rite,  M  was  once  more  silent  and  deserted. 
Those  assisting  were  back  in  their  wigwams,  the 
sick  girl  in  hers.  All  things  had  resumed  their 
accustomed  tenor,  and  all  were  watching  to  see 
what  the  effect  on  the  sick  would  be.  They  did 
not  have  long  to  watch.  The  expected  and  dear 
ly-longed  for  effect  had  not  been  produced.  She 
was  evidently  going  down  hill.  Their  supreme 
effort  had  apparently  been  useless.  There  was 
disappointment  and  dejection  in  the  camp. 
Things  had  not  turned  out  as  they  had  confi 
dently  expected. 

Then  it  was  that  Good-Sounding-Sky,  the  Head 
Medicine-man  determined  to  bring  the  matter 
to  a  decision  one  way  or  other.  He  was  going  to 
find  out  for  certain  whether  that  girl  was  going 
to  live  or  to  die.  He  was  to  be  resolved  on  that 
point  from  the  unseen  world. 

To  accomplish  this  he  went  out  with  many  oth 
ers,  and  selecting  four  small  evergreen  trees 
growing  close  together,  and  of  suitable  size,  they 
were  bent  toward  each  other  and  tied  at  the  top. 


44  THE  OJIBWAY 

Underneath  this  top  there  was  made  with  withes 
and  deerskin  thongs,  and  the  tough  roots  of  the 
tree  out  of  which  the  Indians  make  ropes,  a  sort 
of  nest,  large  enough  to  contain  a  man.  Along 
the  bottom  and  sides  of  it  were  blankets  and 
other  cloths,  screening  the  person  who  might  be 
within  from  observation. 

Good-Sounding-Sky  now  requested  that  he  be 
firmly  bound  with  ropes ;  so  firmly  that  he  could 
move  neither  hand  nor  foot,  and  that  it  seemed 
utterly  impossible  for  him  to  unloose  him 
self.  In  this  helpless  position  he  was  hoisted  up 
into  the  nest,  which,  after  some  incantations  on 
his  part,  began  to  sway  violently  to  and  fro,  al 
though  no  one  touched  it,  and  he  being  wholly 
inside  could  exert  no  force  upon  it  to  sway  it, 
to  one  side  or  other.  Some  of  the  bystanders, 
powerful  men,  took  hold  of  it  to  stop  the  sway 
ing;  but  their  arms  were  almost  jerked  out  of 
their  sockets,  and  they  felt  that  they  would  have 
been  had  they  not  let  go.  In  an  incredibly  short 
space  of  time  the  ropes  were  flung  out  of  the 
top  of  the  nest;  the  man  was  loose.  While  this 
swaying  was  going  on  a  heavy  thud  was  heard 
on  the  bottom  of  the  nest,  as  of  a  body  alighting. 
"Have  you  come!7'  Good-Sounding-Sky  in 
quired.  "Yes,  I  have  come,"  was  the  answer. 
Those  outside  heard  the  squeaking  of  a  very 
strange  voice  while  this  interchange  of  question 
and  answer  took  place,  and  saw  sparks  of  fire 
about  the  top  of  the  nest.  Then  Good-Sounding- 
Sky  was  told  by  his  visitor  to  hand  up  his  al 
ready  filled  pipe,  the  one  with  a  large  stone 
bowl,  and  with  the  long  wooden  stem  about  two 


THE  OJIBWAY  45 

feet  long.  He  handed  it  up  to  the  top  of  the  nest, 
and  in  an  instant  it  was  flung  down  upon  the 
floor,  red-hot  and  smoked  out.  Good-Soundiug- 
Sky  now  asked  the  crucial  question;  the  one  for 
the  sake  of  the  answer  to  which  all  this  had 
been  undertaken.  That  we  may  know  the  exact 
words  of  this  commerce  between  the  seen  and 
the  unseen  world,  we  give  it  just  as  it  was  spoken, 
on  either  side,  with  a  translation : 

"A-ya-ma-gut  na  izh-i-chi-ge-win?" 

' '  Is  there  anything  to  be  done  ? ' ' 

That  was  the  question. 

The  answer  from  the  supernatural  visitor 
was: 

' '  Kawin  gego  izh-i-chi-ge-win. ' ' 

' l  There  is  nothing  to  be  done. ' ' 

Soon  the  swaying  ceased,  the  conference  was 
at  an  end,  and  the  Medicine-man,  getting  out  of 
the  nest  told  the  assembled  people  that  he  had 
been  informed  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  done, 
that  the  girl  would  die.* 

We  are  to  remember  also  that  the  magicians 
and  sorcerers  of  Egypt l  i  did  in  like  manner  with 
their  enchantments,  for  they  cast  down  every 
man  his  rod  and  they  became  serpents' ' ;  that  by 
the  same  power  ' '  turned  the  waters  into  blood, ' ' 
and  that  they  "did  in  like  manner  with  their 
enchantments  and  brought  up  frogs  upon  the 
land  of  Egypt. " 

After  this  interview  of  the  Medicine-man  with 


*When  questioned  long  years  afterwards  as  to  who  it  was  that 
came  to  him  in  the  nest,  Good-Sounding  Sky  said  it  was  a  god 
or  spirit,  and  affirmed  the  truth  of  all  the  particulars  here  given. 
If  there  be  any  who  are  disposed  to  deny  the  truth  of  this,  we 
can  only  answer  to  them  that  there  are  more  things  in  Heaven 
and  earth  than  are  dreamed  of  in  their  philosophy,  and  that  we 
must  believe  the  testimony  of  witnesses. 


46  THE  OJIBWAY 

the  Spirit  the  people  abandoned  hope  of  the  girl 
living.  An  old  scarred  warrior  comes  into  the 
wigwam  where  she  is,  and  sitting  down  by  her 
tenderly  takes  her  wasted  hand  in  his,  and  look 
ing  her  steadfastly  in  the  face  begins  a  gentle 
but  audible  crying.  This  he  keeps  up  for  some 
time,  expressing  by  it  his  deep  sorrow  over  her 
approaching  death,  and  his  inability,  though  so 
willing,  to  prevent  it.  She  looks  calmly  at  him, 
and  accepts  the  homage  he  offers,  for  such 
it  is;  homage  to  one  who  was  about  to  die. 
Then,  after  contemplating  her  for  some  time 
in  silence,  he  withdraws,  without  a  word  spoken 
on  either  side,  but  with  his  deep  sympathy  so 
plainly  conveyed  and  so  gently  accepted. 

One  of  the  men  of  Gull  Lake  had  not  been 
there  during  these  events ;  he  had  been  on  a  visit 
to  the  Leech  Lake  Indians.  He  was  Ma-ing-ans 
(The-Little-Wolf)  a  tall,  magnificent  specimen 
of  a  man.  When  he  returned  to  Gull  Lake 
he  went  to  the  wigwam  of  Yellow  Thunder  and 
talked  to  him  about  his  daughter. 

"It  is  like  this,"  he  said:  "Here  is  life," 
holding  up  his  long  forefinger,  "something 
erect;  it  is  now  inclining  down  in  your  daughter 
like  this,"— here  he  allowed  his  finger  to  in 
cline  toward  a  horizontal  position— "and  we 
know,  do  we  not,  that  if  it  falls  down  like  this ' ' 
putting  his  finger  in  a  horizontal  position— 
"that  it  is  impossible  ever  to  raise  it  up  again, 
the  person  is  dead.  Now  what  your  daughter 
needs  to  raise  up  life  again,  which  is  now  inclin 
ing  down,  is  something  lively.  She  will  never 
get  well  lying  there,  as  you  know;  but  life  will 


THE  OJIBWAY  47 

incline  lower  and  lower,  and  at  last  will  lie 
flat.  Something  lively  is  what  she  needs; 
something  that  will  raise  up  life  again.  Put 
her  on  the  back  of  a  horse  and  ride  her 
around;  that  will  raise  up  life,  and  she 
will  get  well."  He  offered  to  lend  his  own 
pony,  and  to  show  how  it  should  be  done. 
Poor  Yellow  Thunder  and  his  wife  had  been  in 
the  depths  of  despair,  seeing  their  daughter  ever 
lower  and  lower  and  evidently  drawing  near  to 
death,  and  Good-Sounding-Sky's  report  of  his 
conference  with  the  Spirit,  and  that  there  was 
"nothing  to  be  done,"  had  almost  extinguished 
the  last  ray  of  hope.  But  the  hopefulness  of  this 
man,  and  his  confident  assertion,  and  the  plausi 
ble  illustration  which  he  gave  with  his  finger 
about  the  falling  down  of  life  and  how  it  could  be 
raised  up  again,  wrought  upon  them.  They  are 
seized  with  a  sudden  accession  of  hope.  What  if 
this  is  the  way;  something  lively.  Yes,  they 
will  do  it.  So  the  horse  is  brought,  a  blanket 
fastened  upon  him,  and  the  almost  dying  girl, 
greatly  against  her  will,  seated  upon  him.  The 
Little  Wolf  holds  her  on  to  keep  her  from  falling, 
assisted  by  some  others.  The  horse  is  whipped 
up  and  made  to  gallop  and  jump,  and  thus  she 
is  ridden  round  and  round  in  a  ring  for  some 
time,  till  her  distress  and  impending  collapse 
become  so  painfully  apparent  to  all  that  even 
The  Little  Wolf  himself  sees  that  she  will  die 
there  right  among  their  hands  if  that  course  of 
treatment  is  further  persisted  in.  In  an  almost 
fainting  condition  she  is  at  last  lifted  off  and 
carried  to  her  place  in  the  wigwam. 


48  THE  OJIBWAY 

One  scene  more,  the  last.  Her  father  had 
taken  his  gun  and  gone  off  hunting,  because  he 
could  not  bear  to  look  upon  her  sufferings.  Her 
faithful  mother  alone  was  with  her.  She  noticed 
a  change,  and  it  seemed  to  her  that  her  child 
was  going.  She  ran  hastily  to  the  door  to  look 
for  help,  and  happened  to  see  a  Medicine-man 
who  was  passing.  He  realized  that  prompt 
measures  necessary  or  it  would  be  too  late,  so 
flinging  down  the  pack  he  had  on  his  back  he 
went  in.  The  girl  was  lying  on  her  back  with  her 
head  in  her  mother's  lap.  He  first  put  a  piece 
of  wood  between  her  teeth  to  keep  her  mouth 
from  closing.  Then  he  directed  her  mother  to 
keep  pouring  into  her  mouth,  with  a  large  spoon, 
a  black  decoction  of  some  herb,  which,  soon  fill 
ing  the  cavity  of  her  mouth,  kept  overflowing 
and  running  down  her  cheeks.  Then  he 
raised  up  her  body  with  his  hands,  and  beginning 
between  her  shoulders,  kept,  with  frantic  energy, 
blowing  blasts  from  his  mouth  into  her;  along 
the  median  line  of  her  body,  up  over  the  neck, 
over  the  back,  top,  and  front  of  the  head,  till  at 
last  he  arrived  at  her  chest.  It  seemed  as  if  each 
blast  was  so  strong  that  it  would  bore  her 
through.  This  was  to  blow  the  breath  of  life 
back  into  her,  which  was  in  danger  of  leaving 
her.  Her  eyes,  meantime,  were  set,  and  she  look 
ed  as  if  her  soul  was  departing,  which  at  last  it 
did  in  the  midst  of  all  these  frantic  efforts  to 
detain  it. 

"Death,  at  last  was  victor  in  the  long  contest 
which  had  been  waged  against  him. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

YELLOW    THUNDER   TAKES    MEANS    TO    ASSUAGE    HIS 
GRIEF. 

When  death  had  thus  drawn  the  veil,  immedi 
ate  preparations  were  made  for  the  burial.  The 
neighboring  women  came  in,  hastily  wrapped 
the  body  in  a  blanket,  then  in  many  folds  of 
birch  bark,  which  they  had  in  large  sheets  sewed 
together  with  coarse  twine  from  the  tough  root 
of  a  tree.  This  rendered  it  impervious  to  rain. 
With  the  body  they  put  a  flint  and  steel,  the  us 
ual  means  of  Indians  making  fire  at  that  time; 
a  woman's  ax,  packing  strap,  or  portage  collar; 
and  all  the  other  implements  required  by  a  wom 
an  in  her  daily  tasks.  The  deceased  would  need 
all  these  things,  in  her  new  sphere,  the  same  as  in 
life ;  and  would  be  as  grievously  crippled  want 
ing  them  in  the  spirit  world  as  she  would  in  the 
flesh.  And  although  they  see  that  these  things 
are  not  bodily  carried  away  by  the  deceased 
to  the  realm  of  souls,  yet  she  has  the  spiritual 
use  of  them  there. 

Yellow  Thunder  took  no  part  in  these  hasty 
precautions,  but  walked  moodily  about  outside. 
His  wife  assisted, but  left  it  mostly  to  the  women, 
But  she  combed  her  daughter's  long  hair  for  the 
last  time.  "Never  more  shall  I  do  this,  my 
daughter, ' '  she  said,  and  she  tenderly  kissed  the 
cold  face. 


50  THE  OJIBWAY 

When  the  body  was  ready  to  be  carried  to  the 
place  of  burial,  which  it  was  in  less  than  an 
hour  after  death,  Yellow  Thunder  came  in.  He 
tenderly  kissed  his  daughter 's  remains.  '  '  0  my 
daughter,  my  daughter, "  he  said  as  he  did  so, 
and  then  cut  off  and  carefully  put  away  a  lock 
of  her  hair.  Then  as  they  were  just  ready  to 
carry  her  out  he  addressed  the  cold  corpse  in 
a  harangue  of  considerable  length,  in  which  he 
gave  vent  to  his  feelings  of  love  and  grief. 
"  Your  feet  are  now  on  the  road  of  souls,  my 
daughter/'  he  said  as  he  stood  off  a  little  ways 
looking  at  the  body.  "You  are  going  home.  I 
have  loved  you,  my  daughter,  in  life.  Now  that 
you  have  left  me  I  shall  render  you  proper  hon 
or.  Yes,  I  shall  do  to  you,  my  daughter,  that 
which  honor  to  you,  and  duty,  require."  With 
these  words  of  mysterious  import  he  bade  her 
good-by. 

Then  the  mournful  procession  went  to  a  high 
knoll  near  by,  overlooking  the  lake,  and  there 
on  a  rude  scaffold,  formed  by  a  growing  tree  and 
some  large  stakes  driven  into  the  ground  a  little 
distance  from  it,  with  cross  pieces  laid  between, 
the  body  was  laid.  Wrapped  in  so  many  pieces 
of  birch  bark,  which  were  firmly  tied  around  it 
with  withes,  all  moisture  was  kept  from  it,  and 
in  the  same  way  it  was  defended  from  the  at 
tacks  of  birds  or  any  flying  creatures.  Being 
raised  on  high,  it  was  out  of  the  reach  of  land 
animals,  and  there  were  no  worms  or  hideous 
crawling  things  as  there  would  have  been  had  it 
been  buried  in  the  ground.  It  seemed  to  them  al- 


THE  OJIBWAY  51 

together  the  most  seemly,  reverent,  and  proper 
mode  of  sepulture. 

While  this  was  going  on  the  wigwam  was 
being  torn  down,  the  goods  in  it  removed,  and 
everything  set  up  in  a  new  place.  This  was  in 
accordance  with  the  ideas  of  the  Indians,  who 
never  live  in  a  house  or  wigwam  where  a  death 
has  taken  place,  but  immediately  tear  it  down. 
Soon  the  spot  where  the  wigwam  had  stood  was 
bare  and  deserted,  the  killed  grass  and  a  slight 
hole  where  the  fire  had  been  alone  showing  by  a 
bare  circle  that  a  human  habitation  had  been 
there.  But  when  night  came  there  was  a  cheerful 
fire  of  wood  burning  there,  which  was  kept  re 
plenished  till  near  midnight  by  three  women  who 
sat  around  it.  This  was  that  the  dead  girl  might 
have  a  fire  where  she  then  was  on  her  way  to 
the  world  of  spirits.  The  three  women  talked 
about  her,  saying  that  she  was  then  doubt 
less  making  her  camp,  and  that  by  their  good 
offices  she  had  a  bright  and  cheerful  fire  at 
which  to  warm  and  refresh  herself  after  her 
day's  journey.  But  for  them,  how  cold  and 
cheerless  her  state!  All  alone  in  the  gloom  of 
night!  A  stranger  in  a  strange  place,  and  on  a 
journey!  She  would  have  suffered  from  actual 
cold,  too,  for  it  was  still  May,  the  ice  not  very 
long  gone  out  of  the  lakes,  and  the  nights  were 
sometimes  even  frosty.  So  the  women  talked 
of  the  gossip  of  the  village,  and  of  the  grief  of 
the  stricken  father  and  mother.  They  inter 
spersed  remarks  occasionally  about  the  deceased ; 
how  she  was  probably  getting  along,  what  time 
she  would  arrive  at  the  Abode  of  Souls,  and 


52  THE  OJIBWAY 

what  a  reception  she  would  have  from  friends 
already  there. 

"How  thankful  she  will  be,"  said  Kinebigon- 
sique  (The-little -snake-woman),  "for  this  splen 
did  fire  to  warm  herself  at,  and  how  cheerful  it 
will  be.  We  are  certainly  doing  a  good  thing  for 
her." 

"Yes,"  answered  Makonsique  ( The-bear-cub- 
woman) , ' '  and,  poor  thing,  she  is  all  alone.  She 
would  feel  very  lonesome  but  for  this." 

"And,"  said  Bebamigijigoque  (The-woman- 
who  -  belongs-in-the-sky  -  that-moves-all  -  about) 
"we  put  some  food  with  her,  and  we  will  renew 
the  supply  every  day  till  she  gets  there,  so  she 
will  have  plenty  to  eat." 

"She  will  need  it,"  said  Little-snake-woman. 
"It  is  a  long,  tiresome  journey  for  three  days, 
day  after  day.  And  we  put  a  cup  with  her  also, 
so  she  will  be  able  to  drink. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  The-Bear-Cub-woman,  "she  has 
not  only  food  and  a  cup,  but  she  has  her  packing- 
strap  with  her,  so  she  will  be  able  to  pack  all  the 
wood  she  wants.  And  though  her  road  lies 
mostly  through  a  prairie  country,  where  there 
is  not  much  wood,  yet  I  doubt  not  that  she  can 
pick  up  a  good  deal  here  and  there  on  the 
prairie.  And  not  only  her  packing-strap,  but 
she  has  her  woman's  ax  to  cut  it  if  any  of  the 
pieces  are  larger  than  she  can  carry.  Yet  all 
that  would  have  been  useless  to  her,  for  although 
she  has  a  flint  and  steel  with  her,  they  say  that 
she  would  never  be  able  to  start  a  fire  if  we  had 
not  made  this  one  for  her  here. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Sky-go ing-about,  "there  was  that 


THE  OJIBWAY  53 

wretched  old  Big  Bear.  All  the  people  hated 
him  because  he  was  such  a  miserable  old  scoun 
drel,  and  when  he  died  none  of  them  would  make 
a  fire  for  him ;  even  his  old  woman,— she  was  the 
only  one  of  the  family  left,  he  had  lost  all  his 
children  because  he  was  so  bad,— even  she  said, 
'  Why  should  I  make  a  fire  for  that  wretched  old 
fellow  ?  I  have  been  making  fires  for  him  all  my 
life,  packing  wood  on  my  back  till  it  is  almost 
broken,  and  all  the  thanks  I  got  for  it  Was  to  hit 
me  over  the  head  with  an  ax-helve,  till  he  cut  me 
through  the  scalp.  That  he  did  many  a  year 
and  day;  now  let  him  make  fire  for  himself  or 
go  without. '  That  is  what  they  say  she  said.  I 
did  not  hear  her  myself,  but  those  who  heard  her 
told  it  to  me;  and  they  say  that  what  that  old 
man  suffered,  three  nights  without  a  fire  on  his 
wny  to  the  villages  of  the  dead,  and  in  the  very 
coldest  of  the  winter,  and  in  deep  snow,  was  be 
yond  everything!  Some  of  the  Indians,  it 
seems,  went  there  afterwards  in  dreams,  and  saw 
the  old  man  there,  and  heard  all  about  it  from 
him  and  the  others,  and  they  say  it  was  just 
awful!  But  served  him  just  right, "  she  contin 
ued,  raising  her  voice;  "nothing  could  be  too 
bad  for  him,  he  was  so  mean.  Once  he  stole  my 
fish  net  full  of  fish,  and  I  came  on  him  just  as 
he  was  pulling  the  last  of  it  out  of  the  water 
and  packing  it  away  in  his  canoe,  and  I 
said  to  him,  'I  wonder  what  has  become  of 
my  net.  I  set  a  net  here  last  night,  but 
now  I  don't  see  anything  of  the  floats.'  And 
he  said,  as  gruff  as  could  be,  'I  don't  have 
any  nets,  and  I  don't  have  anything  to  do  with 


54  THE  OJIBWAY 

nets.  Do  you  take  me  for  an  old  woman,  that 
you  speak  to  me  about  nets  I '  But  for  all  that  I 
saw  the  corner  of  that  net  tucked  away  in  his 
canoe,  and  they  say  that  Four-Sky  saw  that 
identical  net  afterwards  with  his  old  woman. ' ' 

So  the  talk  went  on  among  the  watchers,  the 
flames  fitfully  lighting  up  the  near-by  trees, 
sometimes  dying  down,  and  then  again  showers 
of  sparks  rising  as  they  threw  on  a  fresh  supply 
of  wood,  till,  nearly  at  midnight,  they  went  to 
their  respective  wigwams,  putting  on  before  they 
left,  however,  some  good  solid  logs,  which  they 
calculated  would  last  till  morning  and  keep  the 
dead  girl  warm  all  night.  This  they  did  every 
night  for  three  nights,  when  it  was  discontinued 
because  she  had  then  arrived  at  the  Villages  of 
the  Dead. 

During  these  days  Yellow  Thunder  wandered 
disconsolately  and  somewhat  aimlessly  around. 
He  endeavored  to  divert  himself  by  hunting  a 
little;  but  he  had  no  heart  in  it.  He  was  evi 
dently  restless  and  unhappy.  He  avoided  the 
society  of  the  other  men,  and  their  well-meant 
efforts  to  rouse  and  cheer  him  fell  flat.  He  was 
invited  by  them  to  take  part  in  the  gambling  in 
which  they  were  accustomed  to  spend  much  of 
their  time,  but  somehow  he  could  not  get  up  any 
interest  in  the  game.  He  was  where  they  were 
talking,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  take  in  what  they 
said.  There  was  something  on  his  mind.  In  a 
few  days  it  took  shape  and  showed  itself.  He 
sent  round  to  each  wigwam  by  a  messenger  a 
little  tobacco  (which  was  a  letter),  inviting  them 


THE  OJIBWAY  55 

all  to  meet  him  on  a  certain  day  at  the  usual 
place  of  assembly,  the  dance  house. 

It  was  now  in  the  air  that  Yellow  Thunder 
had  something  to  propose,  and  various  were  the 
speculations  as  to  what  it  could  be.  Some 
thought  one  thing  and  some  another,  but  all  knew 
that  it  was  in  some  way  connected  with  the  death 
of  his  only  remaining  child.  There  was  an  air 
of  expectancy  in  the  village;  even  the  children 
knew  that  something  was  about  to  take  place, 
and  the  meeting  was  looked  forward  to  with  gen 
eral  interest. 

When  the  appointed  day  and  time  came  the 
usual  order  of  proceeding  was  observed.  In 
dians  always  approach  a  thing  slowly  and  by 
regular  steps ;  nothing  is  hastily  blurted  out,  for 
it  would  belittle  it  to  treat  it  so ;  but  by  giving  a 
dignified  setting  to  the  matter  its  importance  is 
enhanced. 

First  there  was  an  inner  circle  of  young  men 
singers  and  drummers,  who  sat  with  their  faces 
toward  each  other  around  the  big  drums.  Out 
side  of  these  was  a  circle  of  chosen  women  sing 
ers,  whose  shrill  voices  were  allowed  to  come  in, 
in  certain  parts  of  the  chant.  They  said  of  them 
Sha-bo-we-wug— " their  voices  pierce  through." 
Between  the  young  men  and.  women  chanters 
and  the  next  row  outside,  where  nearly  all  the 
men  sat,  there  was  a  wide  cleared  space  or  ring, 
and  here  it  was  that  the  dancers  danced  and  the 
orators  spoke.  Outside  the  men  sat  the  rest  of 
the  women,  who,  however,  were  not  ajlpwed  to 
take  part  in  the  dance,  nor  in  the  discussion  of 
topics,  but  who  were  anxious  to  hear,  and  who, 


56  THE  OJIBWAY 

when  the  chant  was  once  started,  were  allowed 
to  come  in  with  their  voices  in  aid. 

First  the  drums  gave  an  occasional  sound, 
then  more  and  more  frequently  and  loudly,  their 
throbbing  causing  an  answering  throb  in  every 
heart.  Then  the  young  men  around  the  drums 
began  a  high-pitched  chant,  which  gradually 
descended  to  the  lowest  note.  This  was  followed 
by  chants  of  a  more  and  more  rousing  character ; 
but  still  no  one  spoke  or  moved.  There  was  a 
short  silence,  then  the  drums  began  again  witli 
redoubled  vigor,  and  the  chanting  was  fast  and 
furious,  and  exacting.  Here  the  women's  high- 
pitched  voices  came  in.  When  the  chanting  and 
drumming  had  reached  their  height,  suddenly 
all  the  men  jumped  up,  and  in  the  cleared  space 
between  them  and  the  singers  began  dancing. 
They  were  dressed  only  in  breech-cloths  around 
their  loins;  and  wore  feathers  in  their  hair,  and 
their  moccasins.  They  had  provided  themselves 
with  as  many  tinkling  ornaments  as  they  could 
find,  and  these  were  tied  to  their  legs,  around 
their  waists,  and  various  parts  of  their  bodies. 
These  gave  forth  a  tinkling  sound  as  they  moved 
in  the  dance.  They  had  also  pieces  of  the  skins 
of  animals  tied  around  their  legs  above  the  calf, 
some  of  them  so  long  that  they  trailed  on  the 
ground.  Their  faces  and  bodies  were  painted, 
and  their  headgear  of  feathers  the  best  they 
could  get  up.  Each  carried  in  his  hand  a  toma 
hawk.  The  rapid  motion  and  the  music  seemed 
to  excite  their  warlike  passions  for  each  was  con 
cerned  with  an  enemy,  whom  he  was  spying  or 
pursuing,  or  killing.  They  further  excited 


DANCE  SONG.—  Ojibway. 


M.  M.    '  =  96. 


Transcribed  and  harmonized 
by  EDWIN  S.  TRACY. 


3=iEEitt=— P=!  =E— ^===^:: 

:fc±_t__t=:p=-—  g-t=t_f__t=^_«_«=z5z: 


*   ^ 9 ^~ •  ^" j "  n"« ~  I  ^^~~^  ~i   H   r^    i     i^^11^ — 

— f— f — ^-^r~ ^  •>-- "  -4-  g— ^— g~       — ^— y==i==: 

r    ^tr    •'fT^ 

LLrr 1 1_ —  i L^_ 


58  THE  OJIBWAY 

themselves  with  rapid  interjections  and  whoops 
as  they  danced. 

After  perhaps  ten  minutes  of  this  they  all  at 
once  ceased,  the  music  stopped,  and  the  dancers 
sat  down  in  their  places.  There  was  quiet  for  a 
space  for  them  to  take  breath,  then  the  music 
started  up  again.  Again  they  sprang  up,  and 
the  same  performance  was  gone  through  with. 
Then  after  an  interval  a  young  man  arose  alone 
and  danced.  He  was  beautifully  formed  as 
Apollo,  and  he  trod  the  earth  with  a  sense 
of  conscious  power,  like  a  lord  of  creation.  His 
moccasined  feet  seemed  scarcely  to  touch  the 
ground,  so  light  and  graceful  w'as  his  motion. 
Soon  he  sighted  an  enemy,  drew  his  knife,  and 
pursued  him.  He  followed  him  in  and  out 
through  all  his  windings  and  dodgings,  always 
with  an  appearance  of  supreme  and  masterful 
power  and  ease  upon  his  face,  at  last  caught 
him,  took  hold  of  him,  despatched  him  with  his 
knife,  took  off  the  scalp,  and  held  it  up,  in  tri 
umph.  Victor  was  written  upon  every  line  of 
his  face. 

The  time  had  now  come  for  the  matter  about 
which  they  had  been  called  to  be  disclosed,  and 
Yellow  Thunder  stepped  into  the  arena. 

"My  friends,"  he  said,  "you  all  know  the 
grief  that  has  come  to  me  in  the  loss  of  my 
daughter.  She  was  my  only  remaining  child. 
Now  my  wife  and  I  are  entirely  stripped  of 
everything ;  we  have  nothing  left  but  our  bodies. 
You  all  know  how  I  feel,  for  you  have  nearly  all 
lost  children  yourselves.  It  is  as  if  some  one 
had  struck  me  a  heavy  blow  with  a  stick.  I 


THE  OJIBWAY  59 

dearly  loved  my  only  child,  and  I  did  everything 
I  could  to  save  her.  A  little  while  ago  I  had 
considerable  wealth.  Now  it  is  all  gone,  and 
as  I  said  we  have  nothing  left  but  our  bodies. 
But  I  do  not  begrudge  our  wealth  to  the  Medi 
cine-men,  and  I  am  not  blaming  them,  because 
they  did  the  best  they  could.  The  Great  Spirit, 
I  suppose,  has  given  them  power  to  cure  sick 
ness,  and  they  can  nearly  always  do  it,  only 
sometimes,  when  a  person  is  fairly  destined  to 
death,  they  cannot  do  it.  And  now,  my  friends, 
I  want  to  do  something  to  divert  myself  from  my 
grief.  I  want  to  have  a  change.  If  I  go  into 
our  wigwam  here,  I  see  the  little  toys  and  things 
that  our  child  played  with,  and  it  brings  my  grief 
back  afresh.  If  I  go  out  of  doors  it  is  the  same ; 
there  are  the  places  where  she  used  to  play. 
80  I  think  if  I  could  get  off  somewhere,  and  see 
different  scenes,  it  would  divert  my  mind  from 
my  grief,  and  that  I  would  be  able  to  live.  And 
you  know,  my  friends,  what  our  ancestors  taught 
us  as  to  what  was  becoming  to  do  for  the  dead, 
and  how  we  could  show  proper  honor  to  them. 
As  for  us,  we  know  nothing;  we  have  lived  too 
short  a  time  upon  the  earth.  But  they  fetched 
their  wisdom  from  afar;  they  had  lived  long, 
and  it  had  been  handed  down  to  them  from  gen 
eration  to  generation  of  those  who  had  lived 
before  them.  You  know  what  they  told  us,  as 
to  how  to  properly  honor  the  dead;  to  take 
something  belonging  to  the  dead,  a  toy  perhaps, 
or  some  little  thing,  or  best  of  all  a  lock  of  their 
hair,  and  put  it  among  the  warm  bowels  of  a 
slain  enemy.  Now  my  heart  feels  bad ;  I  have  lost 


GO  THE  OJIBWAY 

my  only  child;  it  seems  to  me  that  if  I  do  not 
do  something  I  cannot  live.  I  wish  I  could  kill 
somebody*  and  then  I  think  my  heart  would  feel 
good.  And  I  wish  to  do  proper  honor  to  my 
child,  the  last  thing  I  can  ever  do  for  her.  I 
have  got  some  of  her  hair  and  I  wish  to  put  it 
where  our,  ancestors  instructed  us  it  is  seemly  to 
put  it.  And  that  is  why  I  have  called  you  to 
gether,  my  friends,  to  ask  your  permission  to  go, 
and  take  with  me  one  or  two  others.  I  do  not 
wish  to  lead  a  great  war-party  of  a  hundred,  but 
to  go  quietly,  as  it  were,  on  a  private  scout  of 
my  own.  I  wish  to  see  different  scenes,  to  get 
away  from  here  for  a  while,  and  to  do  the  last 
honors  to  my  child. " 

After  this  address  the  drums  and  the  chanting 
started  up  again,  and  the  men  sprang  to  their 
feet  and  resumed  the  dance,  and  everything  was 
again  in  a  whirl.  Then  after  a  time  silence  once 
more  supervened,  and  all  again  sat  listening. 
One  of  the  chiefs  now  arose  and  told  them  they 
had  heard  what  Yellow  Thunder  had  to  say,  and 
what  he  wished  to  do,  and  that  his  heart  and  his 
intention  were  evidently  very  good,  wishing  to 
do  what  their  wise  ancestors  had  recommended 
to  be  done  for  the  dead,  if  it  could  be.  That  this 
was  a  matter  that  concerned  them  all,  and  there 
fore  he  wished  those  who  could  to  speak  their 
minds  upon  it,  that  the  matter  being  viewed  in 
all  lights  they  might  find  the  right  thing  to  do. 

Again  the  music  and  dancing  were  in  full 

*  This  may  seem  strange  logic  to  white  people,  how  killing  some 
one  else  could  make  Yellow  Thunder's  sad  heart  feel  good.  And 
the  connection  between  the  two  ideas  may  not  seem  at  all  plain  to 
us ;  but  Is  strictly  in  accordance  with  Indian  ideas,  and  is  a 
perfectly  natural  connection  to  them. 


THE  OJIBWAY  61 

blast,  and  again  there  was  silence  in  the  Council. 
And  now  rose  up  Sha-bosh-kunk— He-who-over- 
comes-overy thing— and  addressed  them.  He 
was  a  middle-sized,  sharp-nosed  man,  with  an 
appearance  of  outspokenness  and  candor  in 
all  he  said.  He  was  dressed  in  the  usual  moc 
casins  and  breech-cloth,  with  a  head-gear  of 
grandeur,  and  a  skunk-skin  tied  round  each  leg 
below  the  knee,  the  ends  of  which  trailed  in  the 
dust.  As  he  was  rather  warm  with  the  whoop 
ing  and  jumping  of  the  dance,  he  had  laid  aside 
his  tomahawk  and  taken  a  goose's  wing,  with 
which  he  fanned  himself. 

"My  friends/'  he  began,  "my  soul  is  just  as 
white  as  the  whitest  piece  of  cloth  you  ever  saw 
in  your  life."  When  he  said  this  and  made  a 
pause  it  set  his  auditors  to  thinking.  They  re 
membered  various  things  that  he  had  acquired 
from  them  at  different  times  by  curious  arts; 
how  he  had  got  the  advantage  of  them  very  fre 
quently  by  sharp  practices,  and  had  manifested 
generally  a  selfish  spirit,  unscrupulously  disre 
garding  the  rights  of  others  when  it  could  safely 
be  carried  out.  They  remembered  many  per 
sons  who  had  suffered  from  him  in  various  ways. 
They  remembered  also  very  queer  things  in  his 
past  and  present  matrimonial  arrangements ;  and 
though  they  had  no  certain  rule  or  canon  on  mat 
rimonial  subjects,  and  therefore  nothing  by 
which  to  condemn  such  actions,  yet  now  when  he 

*  It  Is  a  very  usual  way  with  Indians,  when  beginning  a  speech, 
to  lay  first  a  broad  fundamental  platform,  and  on  that  to  erect 
the  superstructure  :  to  establish  a  general  principle,  and  from  that 
to  deduce  particulars.  The  particular  principle  which  he  aimed 
to  establish  here  was  the  goodness  of  his  life,  his  worth  as  a  man, 
and,  as  a  corollary  from  that,  that  his  opinion  should  have  weight 
and  should  decide. 


62  THE  OJIBWAY 

professed  such  whiteness  of  soul  it  brought  these 
things  to  their  mind.  It  is  true  that  Indian  po 
liteness  never  allowed  the  least  allusion  to  these 
things,  nor  was  he  ever  reminded  of  them  by 
word  or  look,  and  was  received  in  society  in  all 
respects  as  if  these  things  had  never  been;  yet 
still  they  remembered  them  even  though  their 
desire  to  make  all  things  easy  and  pleasant  in 
intercourse  with  each  other  occasioned  the  prac 
tical  exclusion  of  them  from  consideration.* 

Having  thus  laid  down  his  platform  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  proceeded  to  erect  his  superstructure : 

"  Indeed,  my  friends,  we  all  know  that  what 
Yellow  Thunder  has  said  is  very  good ;  and  that 
what  he  quoted  from  our  ancestors  as  to  the 
proper  way  of  honoring  the  dead  is  very  good, 
when  it  is  expedient  to  be  done.  And  we  know 
that  his  heart  is  good  in  wishing  to  go  and  kill 
an  enemy  to  assuage  his  grief.  We  would  all  of 
us  feel  so  if  we  were  in  his  case.  But,  my 
friends,  it  is  not  expedient  at  this  time,  for  it 
may  cause  the  destruction  of  all  of  us.  Look 
now,  my  friends.  How  many  do  we  number 
here  in  Gull  Lake?  Perhaps  400  or  500.  How 
many  do  the  Sioux  number,  whom  he  proposes 
to  go  and  kill  ?  We  have  never  been  to  their  vil 
lages,  but  from  what  we  can  learn  they  number 
many  thousands.  We  know  their  villages  are 
everywhere;  at  the  mouth  of  Greenleaf  River 
(St.  Paul) ;  a  great  many  villages  at  the  head 
waters  of  the  Minnesota  Elver ;  a  great  many  at 
Chief  Mountain.  It  is  true  there  are  also  other 


•  For  It  Is  a  rule  of  the  Indian's  life  to  make  Intercourse  wltb 
each  other  pleasant,  and  In  obedience  to  that  no  man  ever  loses 
caste  or  Is  ostracized,  no  matter  what  he  does. 


THE  OJIBWAY  63 

villages  of  the  0  jib  ways,  l>ut  what  good  will  that 
do  us?  We  are  here  two  sleeps  (2  days'  march) 
from  Leech  Lake,  Indian  village ;  and  nearly  as 
far  from  Mille  Lacs  in  the  other  direction;  and 
if  we  arouse  the  Sioux  we  shall  all  be  killed  be 
fore  they  can  hear  of  it,  or  come  to  our  succour. 

"And  there  is  one  thing  I  can  tell  you  about 
those  Sioux;  they  have  sharp  eyes.  And  al 
though  a  party  may  go  down  from  here  and  kill 
some  of  them,  and  think  that  those  Sioux  will 
not  know  from  what  place  the  killers  come,  they 
are  mistaken.  No  matter  how  secretly  they  do 
it,  those  Sioux  will  find  out  whence  they  came; 
will  track  them  home.  They  will  find  they  came 
from  this  village,  and  that  will  draw  their  fire 
on  us.  If  we  would  let  the  Sioux  alone  they 
would  let  us  alone.  That  is  why  they  keep  kill 
ing  us,  because  we  keep  killing  them.  Some  say 
it  is  best  to  keep  killing  them  off;  but  I  think 
their  numbers  are  so  great  that  it  will  not  be 
possible  for  us  ever  seriously  to  reduce  them; 
and  we,  the  smaller,  will  all  be  killed  off  before 
half  of  them  are.  And  there  is  Mesa-zibi  (The- 
everywhere-river)  leading  straight  from  them  to 
us;  a  highway,  to  our  doors,  and  they  have 
plenty  of  canoes. 

"  So  if  Yellow  Thunder  and  his  party  go  down 
there  the  result  will  be  that  they  will  ask,  'who 
are  these  that  come  killing  us ! '  And  not  two  or 
three,  but  some  hundreds  of  them,  will  make  us 
a  return  visit,  and  then  four  or  five  days  after 
we  have  all  been  killed,  perhaps  the  Leech  Lake 
or  Mille  Lac  Ojibways  will  hear  of  it  by  some 
survivor  who  has  escaped  from  the  slaughter, 


64  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  will  come  here  to  find  our  bodies,  without 
any  heads,  lying  here  and  there  about  our  vil 
lage;  for  our  heads  the  Sioux  will  have  collected 
in  bags,  and  taken  them  to  show  to  their  relatives 
about  the  Yellow  Medicine  country,  or  on  the? 
river  which  we  hear  exists,  the  river  of  the  Great 
White  Clay  Banks  (the  Missouri  Eiver).  And 
here  are  these  children  playing  about  here. 
Perhaps  they  are  your  children,  or  perhaps 
mine.  If  we  wish  them  to  live,  let  us  let  those 
Sioux  alone.  But  if  we  wish  to  have  their 
brains  knocked  out  on  these  trees  and  scattered 
about,  just  let  Yellow  Thunder  and  his  compan 
ions  go  down  there  and  stir  up  that  hornet's 
nest  to  come  back  at  us.  We  know  what  death 
ly  terror  falls  on  us  sometimes  if  we  find  even  a 
Sioux  moccasin  in  our  vicinity.  Then  what  will 
it  be  if  he  go  wantonly  to  provoke  them,  when 
they  are  not  molesting  us?" 

When  Sha-bosh-kunk  concluded,  the  drum 
mers  and  chanters  started  up  the  music  again, 
and  soon  all  the  men,  springing  up,  were  leap 
ing  and  dancing  as  before.  When  they  had 
danced  awhile  they  suddenly  ceased  and  sat 
down,  and  perfect  stillness  reigned,  inducing  re 
flection  and  affording  an  opportunity  for  further 
light  to  be  thrown  on  the  subject  under  discus 
sion. 

The  subject  had  thus  been  fairly  put  before 
them  in  both  aspects,  by  the  two  addresses  which 
had  been  made,  and  it  was  for  them  to  decide; 
and  choose  they  must,  one  way  or  other.  It 
was  a  matter  which  concerned  them  all,  and,  as 
they  saw,  might  be  productive  of  consequences 


THE  OJIBWAY  65 

to  them  all.  And  so  every  mind  was  working  to 
arrive  at  the  proper  decision,  and  the  intent 
faces,  and  eyes  fixed  on  the  earth,  and  winking 
eyelids,  showed  how  intently  they  were  consider 
ing  it.  Even  the  women,  though  the  decision 
did  not  rest  with  them,  and  though  they  were  al 
lowed  no  voice  in  the  matter,  were  thinking  very 
hard  over  it.  Indians  never  do  anything  but 
with  great  deliberation  and  after  Ions:  consid 
ering  it  in  the  best  light  they  have.  Here  was 
their  little  world  endeavoring  to  find  out  if  it 
was  advisable  for  Yellow  Thunder  and  his  com 
panions  to  go,  and,  if  possible,  kill  some  Sioux. 

With  the  Sioux  they  had  been  at  war  for  un 
known  generations,  and  it  was  always  death  to 
one  or  the  other  whenever  they  met.  The  name 
by  which  they  call  the  Sioux  contains  a  world  of 
meaning,  and  history.  Thev  are  the  A-bwa- 
nug,  or  Bwa-nug,  Roasters,  from  their  habit  of 
roasting  Ojibway  captives,  when  they  did  not  kill 
them  outright.  These  Ojibways  lived  about  five 
days'  march  from  their  enemies,  so  they  rarelv 
met,  except  when  they  sought  each  other;  though 
sometimes  they  both  went  to  hunt  on  the  border 
land  of  their  respective  territories,  and  then  they 
met,  and  death  held  a  revel. 

So  they  thought  and  thought,  and  wrestled 
with  the  subject  according  to  the  best  light  they 
had.  There  were  many  speeches  about  it,  each 
preceded  and  followed  by  a  dance;  and  while  a 
few  were  of  Sha-bosh-kunk's  mind,  the  great 
majority  thought  Yellow  Thunder's  proposition 
right  and  good.  They  finally  came  to  the  con 
clusion  that  the  custom  of  their  ancestors  was 


66  THE  OJIBWAY 

most  laudable;  that  Yellow  Thunder  should  be 
allowed  to  show  proper  respect  to  his  dead  child, 
and  that  his  heart  being  now  hot  and  inflamed 
with  grief,  he  had  a  right  to  cool  it  if  he  could 
with  the  blood  of  their  enemies. 

Formal  permission  was  therefore  given.  And 
now  arose  the  question  as  to  his  two  companions. 
That  was  soon  settled.  Up  rose  an  elderly  man, 
Ogema— the  Chief —with  a  set,  determined  coun 
tenance,  who  had  often  been  on  war  parties,  and 
announced  that  he  would  go.  He  had  often,  he 
said,  looked  the  foreign  Indians  in  the  face,  and 
heard  their  war  whoops,  and  felt  their  bullets 
and  their  arrows  whizzing  about  him,  and  he 
was  anxious  to  hear  them  again.  He  was  an 
approved  warrior,  and  was  allowed  to  go. 

To  the  surprise  of  all  there  arose  for  the  third 
party,  Good-Sounding-Sky,  the  Great  Grand 
Medicine-Man,  and  declared  that  he  would  go. 
He  was  usually  so  much  occupied  with  his  drum 
ming  and  chanting  and  calling  on  the  spirits, 
and  shaking  his  rattle  over  the  sick,  and  with  the 
other  functions  of  his  profession,  that  he  rarely 
went  even  hunting,  and  had  never  yet  gone  to 
war.  An  exclamation  of  surprise  went  round 
the  group  when  he  rose.  "  Good-Sounding- 
Sky  I19  they  said;  but  he  was  accepted  and  the 
party  was  complete. 

When  the  council  had  broken  up  and  dis 
persed  to  their  homes,  a  friend  of  Sha-bosh- 
kunk's  asked  him,  with  much  interest,  why  he 
had  opposed  Yellow  Thunder's  going,  something 
that  seemed  inexplicable  to  him. 

" Because, "  said  he,  "I  wish  to  go  myself.     I 


THE  OJIBWAY  67 

am  not  yet  quite  ready  to  go,  but  I  intend  to  as 
soon  as  I  get  ready,  and  I  do  not  wish  that  man 
to  go  down  there  before  me  and  reap  that  honor 
which  I  intend  for  myself.  I  do  not  like  that  man 
very  well,  and  I  do  not  wish  him  to  come  back 
here  with  a  big  reputation  of  having  killed  Sioux 
and  brought  their  scalps ;  for  that  is  an  honor 
which  I  intend  for  myself.  So  I  opposed  him." 

Good-Sounding-Sky's  wife  had  not  been  pres 
ent  at  the  council.  She  had  been  off  with  her 
net  fishing,  a  branch  of  industry  which,  like 
many  others,  is  reserved  by  the  Ojibways  exclu 
sively  for  women.  It  was  with  great  surprise 
that  she  heard  that  her  husband  was  going  to 
war,  so  she  sought  him. 

"So  you  are  going  to  war,"  she  said,  with 
something  of  a  half-scornful  and  half-compas 
sionate  laugh.  "Well,  I  have  compassion  on  you, 
though  you  are  a  good-for-nothing  old  man,  and 
I  dp  not  want  you  to  go  down  there  and  be  killed. 
It  is  true  you  are  good-for-nothing. ' '  Here  she 
turned  around  and  gave  a  hunch  with  her  elbow 
to  the  woman  who  sat  beside  her,  and  made  a 
face  at  her.  "All  you  are  good  for  is  drum, 
drum,  drumming  on  your  mitigwakik  (medicine 
drum).  You  scare  away  all  the  game  from  the 
vicinity, ' '  she  said,  raising  her  voice  to  a  shout, 
"by  the  noise  you  make,  so  that  no  deer  or  moose 
can  be  found  near  this  place.  You  are  of  no  use 
to  me,"— here  she  made  another  face  at  the 
woman  next  her,— "you  never  bring  any  meat  in 
here,  and  I  have  to  support  you.  And  yet  I  don 't 
want  you  to  go  there,  and  the  Sioux  kill  you, 
poor  old  man."  Here  she  put  her  hands  on  his 


68  THE  OJIBWAY 

shoulders  and  looked  in  his  face,  with  an  endear 
ing  look  which  was  not  feigned. 

"Oh  nonsense,"  said  he;  "the  Sioux  will 
never  kill  me. ' ' 

1 '  What  do  you  wish  to  go  down  there  for  any 
way  ?"  she  asked. 

"Well,"  he  replied,  "I  wish  to  have  a  great 
reputation,  the  same  as  all  the  others  wish  it.  It 
is  true  I  am  far  the  foremost  in  the  Grand  Med 
icine,  and  they  all  look  up  to  me  in  that;  but  I 
have  never  been  to  war,  and  when  all  the  men 
meet  in  council,  as  we  did  today,  a  great  many  of 
them  have  eagle's  feathers  in  their  hair,  one  for 
each  enemy  they  have  killed,  and  I  have  none. 
Iwant  to  be  equal  to  them  in  that  respect,  and 
then  with  my  pre-eminence  in  the  Grand  Medi 
cine  I  shall  be  the  foremost  man  in  all  respects. 
I  long  to  be  a  great  celebrity,  and  I  am  going  on 
this  expedition  to  achieve  it. ' ' 

"But  see  now,"  said  she,  "very  likely  a  Sioux 
will  get  your  head  and  tie  it  to  his  girdle.  Very 
likely  he  will  mock  your  head,  and  flout  at  it. 
Very  likely  that  Sioux  will  spit  at  it,  and  al 
though  you  are  a  poor,  worthless  old  man," 
here  she  turned  round  and  made  another  face  at 
her  woman  companion,— "I  don't  wish  you  any 
thing  so  bad  as  that.  Had  you  not  better  stay 
here,  and  just  drum  on  your  drum,  and  keep 
your  head  on?" 

1  i  Oh,  there  is  no  fear  of  any  Sioux  getting  my 
head, ' '  he  said.  * '  Look  here,  and  I  will  tell  you. 
When  I  was  a  young  man,  just  growing  up,  I 
went  away  and  fasted  a  long  fast,  as  my  parents 
told  me  to  do,  that  I  might  have  a  vision  for  the 
direction  of  my  future  life.  Well,  I  fasted 


THE  OJIBWAY  69 

and  fasted.  For  five  days  and  nights  I  did  not 
taste  a  mouthful  of  food;  nothing  but  a  little 
water,  and  very  little  of  that.  And  at  last,  when 
I  was  almost  swooning,  I  saw;  a  vision.  The 
Great  Spirit  appeared  to  me,  and  with  Him  He 
had  two  sticks,  crutches,  and  some  white  hair 
like  a  white  horse 's  hair,  and  He  said  to  me :  '  I 
have  seen  your  fasting  and  I  have  pity  on  you. 
I  give  you  these  two  sticks  for  crutches,  and  I 
give  you  this  white  hair.  I  give  you  to  live  so 
long  that  your  hair  will  be  as  white  as  this  and 
that  you  will  need  these  crutches  to  go  when  in 
extreme  old  age.'  Now  I  am  sure  that  no  Sioux 
can  kill  me,  and  that  I  shall  live  till  my  hair  is  as 
white  as  snow,  and  till  I  shall  hardly  be  able  to 
walk  for  feebleness. " 

This  conference  over,  the  good  woman  ceased 
to  dissuade  her  "old  man,"  as  she  called  him, 
though  he  was  not  over  thirty  years  of  age,  and 
preparations  for  the  departure  were  begun.  A 
canoe  was  provided,  together  with  three  guns 

*  To  understand  this  it  is  necessary  to  know  that  every  young 
man  and  woman,  but  especially  the  former,  is  incited  by  their 
parents,  when  approaching  manhood  or  womanhood,  to  enter  on  a 
long  fast  in  order  to  see  some  vision  by  which  the  whole  course 
of  their  future  life  shall  very  largely  be  ruled.  The  parent  offers 
the  child  in  one  hand  charcoal,  to  black  his  face,  and  in  the  other 
food,  and  when  he  chooses  the  former  and  rejects  the  latter, 
commends  him.  The  person  then  either  makes  a  nest  for  himself 
in  a  tree,  or  retirs  to  the  top  of  a  rock  or  mountain,  or  some 
solitary  place,  and  there  enters  on  his  fast.  He  is  directed  to 
look  very  particularly  for  some  vision,  as  of  some  animal,  or 
clouds,  or  something  which  will  disclose  to  him  his  future  life, 
and  what  he  must  do.  Some  attain  to  five,  six,  or  even  ten  days 
of  total  fasting  before  the  desired  vision  is  seen.  Very  often  It  is 
some  animal,  as  the  bear,  buffalo,  etc.  And  in  that  case  the  per 
son  is  careful  always  to  wear  on  his  body  a  piece  of  the  skin  of 
that  animal  :  and  he  looks  on  it  as  his  guardian  spirit,  who 
will  deliver  him  from  danger,  and  lend  him  all  its  qualities, 
as  swiftness  to  escape  from  foes,  cunning  to  outwit  them,  or 
strength  to  oppose  them  in  the  hour  of  need.  Hence  every  war 
rior  is  found  to  wear  a  piece  of  some  skin,  as  buffalo,  connected 
with  his  fasting  dream  or  vision,  and  upon  that  he  relies  to 
deliver  him  from  danger. 


70  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  ammunition,  and  some  wild  rice;  but  flesh 
they  were  expected  to  find  for  themselves  by  the 
way.  The  whole  village  was  now  in  a  state  of 
some  excitement  about  their  departure.  As  a 
necessary  preliminary  there  was  the  "Minisino- 
wikondiwin,"  the  Warrior 's  Feast,  for  those 
about  to  go  to  war.  Eight  were  invited,— al 
ways  an  even  number,— and  a  whole  roasted 
animal,  as  the  rule  prescribed,  was  set  before 
them,  which  must  all  be  eaten,  as  there  would 
have  been  grievous  breach  of  rule  should  any 
of  it  be  left.  Cups  of  bear's  grease  were,  ac 
cording  to  the  rule,  given  for  their  drink,  to 
make  them  strong-hearted.  Each  guest  must  eat 
all  that  was  set  before  him  on  his  birch-bark  dish, 
and  if  he  found  himself  utterly  unable  to  do  so, 
he  was  allowed  to  give  an  offering  of  tobacco  to 
the  host  to  allow  some  one  else  to  eat  it  for  him. 
Our  three  warriors  did  the  best  they  could  with 
their  portions,  which  were  not  small,  but  had  to 
implore  their  host  to  let  them  call  someone  else 
to  finish,  saying  that  if  that  privilege  were  not 
accorded  them  their  war  expedition  would  end 
right  there  by  bursting.  However,  the  host 
graciously  accepted  the  tobacco,  and  the  privi 
lege  was  allowed. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  FORTUNES  OF  WAK. 

And  now  the  day  of  embarkation  came,  and 
the  three  whom  the  gliding  water  was  to  bear  to 
their  destiny  stood  paddle  in  hand,  ready  to  step 
into  their  canoe.  Old  friends  came  running 
down  the  bank,  many  of  them  bearing  what 
looked  like  images,  or  dolls,  wrapped  in  clothing, 
all  but  the  head,  and  entreated  them  to  take  them 
and  dispose  of  them  as  honor  to  the  dead  re 
quired.*  Many  women  now  came  running  down 
with  these  in  their  arms,  and  tried  to  have  the 
voyagers  take  them.  "Here,  take  this,  of  my 
child,  and  give  it  the  proper  honor  if  you  can. 
See  how  light  it  is.  It  will  be  no  incumbrance 
to  you.  Put  it  in  the  bowels  if  you  can;  but  if 
you  cannot,  at  least  throw  it  away  on  the  field  of 
battle.  Now,  will  you  do  that  for  me?  We  are 
old  friends  and  neighbors;  we  have  lived  long 
together.  I  beg  you  do  that  for  me.  Will  you 
now?"  So  they  were  entreated  again  and 
again,  and  begged  and  coaxed.  It  was  hard  to 

*  When  an  Indian  woman's  child  dies,  she  makes  a  muzin-lni, 
or  image  of  it,  about  the  size  of  a  small  child,  the  face  exposed, 
the  body  wrapped  round  with  many  clothes  and  expensive  bead 
work  ;  and  this  she  keeps  for  a  year  in  the  wigwam.  It  occupies 
the  place  in  the  wigwam  which  the  deceased  child  had,  and  it  is 
regularly  offered  food,  the  hair  is  combed,  and  it  is  treated  with 
the  greatest  affection  and  respect.  It  is  her  memorial  of  the  dead 
loved  one.  It  is  kept  for  a  year,  or  until  it  can  be  thrown  away 
on  the  field  of  battle. 


?2  THE  OJIBWAY 

refuse;  but  oh,  so  many  requests  of  that  sort! 
"I  think  I  shall  be  made  crazy  by  so  many  com 
missions  of  this  kind,"  said  old  Ogema. 

At  last  the  final  preparations  were  made,  and 
the  men,  pushing  against  the  bank  with  their  pad 
dles,  shoved  off  and  were  afloat.  And  now  the 
last  calls  were  borne  to  them  across  the  water 
from  the  assembled  Indians.  Ayangwamiziuk 
was  the  word  most  often  heard,  which  may  be 
translated  "Take  the  greatest  care";  "now 
nerve  yourselves";  "now  be  on  your  guard"; 
for  it  means  all  these.  There  were  many  cries ; 
all  of  encouragement,  exhortation,  warning. 
"Now  tighten  your  belts  to  the  very  last  hole  to 
strain  yourselves,"  shouted  one  old  superannu 
ated  warrior.  "To  strain  yourselves,"  that  is, 
to  make  a  supreme  effort. 

Their  paddles  were  now  flashing  in  the  sun, 
and  soon  they  entered  the  stream  which  drained 
their  lake,  and  behind  a  point  of  land  were  hid 
den  from  sight.  All  of  a  sudden  from  the  midst 
of  life,  from  an  excited  multitude,  from  discord 
ant  cries,  from  the  haunts  of  men,  they  were  in  'a 
lonely  wilderness.  For  days  and  days  they 
would  see  no  human  being,  nor  sign  of  human 
life.  They  felt,  as  they  drew  down  that  silent 
river,  as  if  they  had  parted  from  life,  as  if  they 
had  entered  on  a  totally  different  existence. 
The  dangers  and  the  toils  of  the  enterprise  on 
which  they  had  entered,  for  the  first  time  came 
home  to  them. 

Ogema,  a  seasoned  veteran,  was  the  first  to 
recover  himself.  ' '  I  wonder  what  we  shall  meet 
before  we  again  see  Gull  Lake  Village, ' '  he  said. 


THE  OJIBWAY  73 

He  said  it  not  in  fear,  but  he  knew  that  the 
course  of  events  would  unfold  surprises. 

The  stream  down  which  they  floated  was  about 
two  lengths  of  their  canoe  in  width.  The  banks 
were  high  and  somewhat  sloping,  and  in  some 
places  overarching  pines  almost  roofed  it  over. 
Soon  the  stream  brought  them  to  the  Mesa-zi-bi 
(The  Everywhere-river),  here  a  sylvan  stream, 
and  their  canoe  danced  out  on  to  its  broad  bos 
om.  It  ran  in  great  bends,  so  that  they  could  not 
see  any  great  distance  ahead.  Round  each  bend 
was  a  new  scene  spread  out  before  them,  ever 
varying,  ever  beautiful.  By  this  time  the  de 
clining  sun  told  them  it  was  time  to  camp,  so 
drawing  up  their  canoe  on  the  bank  they  took 
the  ax,  and  soon  its  sound  was  a  new  feature  in 
that  lonely  wilderness.  A  fire  was  soon  blazing, 
their  pots  and  kettles  upon  it,  and  supper  was 
cooking.  Then  followed  supper,  served  in 
birch-bark  dishes  on  the  ground.  Then  their 
long-stemmed  pipes  were  'brought  out,  and  filled 
with  the  mixture  of  the  inner  bark  of  the  red  wil 
low  and  a  little  tobacco,  and  there  was  sociability 
and  enjoyment.  Yellow  Thunder  and  Good- 
Sounding-Sky  had  by  this  time  recovered  from 
the  temporary  dampening  of  their  spirits  that 
followed  the  parting  from  their  friends,  and  all 
were  cheerful  and  happy.  The  former  felt  that 
the  load  of  his  grief  was  already  rolling  from  his 
back,  in  the  diversion  of  his  thoughts  to  new 
channels.  They  had  no  fear  of  enemies  where 
they  were,  so  their  camp-fire  was  a  conspicuous 
signal  far  up  and  down  the  river.  They  talked 
of  their  village,  of  their  friends,  of  hunting 


74  THE  OJIBWAY 

scrapes,  'and  Ogema  told  episodes  of  his  event 
ful  life  when  on  war  parties.  They  watched  the 
moon  sailing  overhead,  and  the  river  gently 
gliding  at  their  feet.  By  and  by  they  slept,  and 
there  were  three  forms  that  looked  like  mum 
mies,  head  and  feet  all  wrapped  in  blankets, 
around  the  fire. 

It  is  needless  to  detail  the  days  during  which 
their  canoe  glided  down  the  silent,  beautiful 
river.  It  was  a  sylvan  stream  of  very  trans 
lucent  water,  flowing  through  gently-sloping 
banks,  covered  with  the  richest  verdure.  Count 
less  wild  flowers  perfumed  the  air,  for  it  was 
now  the  end  of  May.  In  some  places  the  banks 
were  timbered  with  pines  and  other  trees,  but  on 
the  left  bank  it  was  mostly  prairie.  When  they 
drew  up  their  canoe  at  noon  they  could  look 
from  the  high  bank  over  a  rolling  sea  of  verdure 
interspersed  with  beautiful  groves.  What  a 
lovely  place  for  the  hunter  to  live  in.  There 
was  the  grove  to  shelter  his  wigwam  and  furnish 
him  with  fuel;  there  was  the  green  prairie  for 
his  little  children  to  play  on;  there  were  the  ani 
mals  near  by  to  furnish  him  with  food;  there 
was  the  river  whence  his  wife  could  bring  the 
gleaming  fish;  there  was  everything  but  an 
owner. 

Once  Good-Sounding-Sky  rose  early  in  the 
morning,  about  the  rising  of  the  sun,  his  two 
companions  still  lying  motionless  as  the  dead, 
and  from  the  high  bank  where  their  camp  was, 
surveyed  the  scene.  There  was  the  peaceful 
river  flowing  gently  at  his  feet;  there  was  the 
prairie  bathed  in  dew,  glistening  in  the  morning 


THE  OJIBWAY  75 

sun ;  there  were  the  deer  and  elk  feeding,  uncon 
scious  of  man  ys  vicinity.  The  winds  were  hushed, 
some  birds  were  calling  from  the  river,  and 
peace  was  upon  all.  There  was  neither  sin  nor 
sorrow  there,  but  everything  fresh  and  beauti 
ful. 

The  wilderness  supplied  them  liberally  with 
food  during  the  five  days  they  were  floating 
along.  Game  of  all  kinds  they  had  in  abund 
ance,  and  adding  the  wild  rice  they  had  brought 
with  them  made  delicious  food.  Once  they  heard 
a  deer  snorting  (or  whatever  the  sound  may  be 
called),  and  they  saw  him  standing  out  plainly 
as  they  went  round  a  point.  Good-Sounding-Sky 
fired  at  him  three  times  at  close  range,  but  he 
kept  his  ground,  still  defiantly  snorting.  That 
deer  was  a  Manido,  a  god,  something  supernatu 
ral  about  him,  for  bullets  had  no  power  over 
him ;  so  they  passed  by  and  left  him  triumphant 
ly  snorting  there  still.  Had  they  persisted  in 
trying  to  kill  him  against  the  manifest  will  of 
the  spirits,  some  mischief  would  have  befallen 
them. 

For  the  first  four  days  they  took  no  precau 
tions,  having  no  fear  of  meeting  enemies.  But 
on  the  fifth  day  there  was  an  under-current  of 
watchfulness.  When  turning  a  bend  of  the  river 
conversation  ceased,  and  all  eyes  were  directed 
to  what  that  reach  of  the  river  would  disclose. 
Where  they  slept  the  night  before,  the  canoe  was 
carried  inland  and  hidden,  and  they  made  their 
fire  some  distance  from  the  bank  and  extin 
guished  it  with  water  after  they  had  cooked  the 
evening  meal,  that  no  curling  snake  might  dis 
close  their  presence. 


76  THE  OJIBWAY 

The  following  day  there  was  a  feeling  of  anx 
iety,  and  when  evening  came  Ogema,  with  the 
caution  of  an  old  warrior,  took  means  to  ascer 
tain  the  whereabouts  of  the  enemy.  Yellow 
Thunder  was  sent  ahead  a  little  space  from  the 
camp  to  prepare  the  Pushquacumiginagun,  ' '  the- 
cleared-piece-of -ground, "  on  which  the  Onza- 
bunzichigun,  l  i  the-divining-instrument-whence- 
a-view-is-made, ' '  was  to  be.  This  he  did  by  tak 
ing  up  the  turf  from  a  piece  of  ground  in  the 
form  of  a  parallelogram,  and  then  making  the 
earth  soft,  like  a  flower-bed  in  a  garden.  He 
then  fenced  it  about  with  'brush  that  no  one 
might  step  on  it.  There  was  suspended  over 
the  place  of  divination  on  a  pole  the  offerings 
which  they  had  brought  to  sacrifice,  some  pieces 
of  bright  red  cloth,  and  other  precious  things, 
also  all  the  "muzininig,"  or  images  of  the  dead, 
with  which  they  had  been  entrusted.  When  he 
had  reported  it  prepared,  Ogema  came  'and  took 
his  station  upon  it  and  commenced  his  divina 
tion,  singing  and  praying  to  the  Great  Spirit  that 
he  would  show  him  how  to  lead  his  men  away 
from  danger,  and  to  a  successful  accomplishment 
of  their  enterprise.  He  was  heard  thus  singing 
and  praying  during  a  great  part  of  the  night  by 
his  two  companions  in  camp.  Often  they  fell 
into  a  fitful  slumber,  and  each  time  they  awoke 
there  was  Ogenra  still  singing  and  praying.  They 
were  anxious  by  this  time,  knowing  that  on  the 
accuracy  of  Ogema 's  divination  depended  their 
lives,  as  they  knew  they  were  in  the  vicinity  of 
enemies,  yet  knew  not  just  where  they  were. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  they  heard  his  voice 
loudly  calling  them  to  come,  and  they  knew  that 


THE  OJIBWAY  77 

he  had  made  a  discovery  of  some  sort.  He  had 
taken  his  seat  at  the  beginning  beside  the  part  of 
the  parallelogram  farthest  from  the  enemy,  but 
facing  them,  and  on  the  side  of  it  farthest  from 
him  he  had  placed  two  round,  smooth  stones. 
These  stones  had  now  moved  across  to  his  side 
without  his  volition,  he  said,  and  under  the  influ 
ence  of  his  medicine  songs  and  prayers,  leaving 
two  deep  tracks  across  the  soft  earth.  And  it 
was  by  the  course  of  these  tracks  that  the  posi 
tion  of  the  enemy  was  to  be  ascertained.  Good- 
Sounding-Sky  and  Yellow  Thunder  looked  care 
fully  at  the  tracks  as  desired,  but  were  not  clear 
as  to  just  what  they  indicated.  Then  it  was  that 
Ogema  announced  the  result.  Said  he : 

"I  see  by  this  that  to-morrow,  if  we  keep  on 
down  the  river,  a  little  before  noon  we  shall  be 
in  a  reach  of  the  river  looking  to  the  southeast, 
with  oak  timber  on  the  right-hand  side  as  we  go, 
and  prairie  on  the  left,  but  with  a  piece  of  tim 
ber  coming  down  to  the  river  about  the  middle 
of  the  reach,  through  the  midst  of  which  timber 
a  creek  flows  into  this  river.  In  the  mouth  of 
that  creek  we  shall  find  a  hunting  party  of  Sioux 
in  four  large  wooden  canoes,  and  if  we  pass  by 
it  we  shall  all  be  killed.  "* 

A  consultation  was  then  held  about  this  alarm 
ing  prediction,  and  it  was  determined  to  go  cau 
tiously  down  the  river  till  near  noon,  then  draw 

*  The  above  statement  of  Ogema  predicting  just  where  the  enemy 
would  be  seen  may  seem  strange  to  the  reader,  nevertheless  it  is 
true  that  the  leader  of  a  war  party,  called  by  them  Ma-ya-o-say- 
win-in-i,  or  the-one-who-walks-in-front,  after  using  the  means  above 
described,  made  some  very  wonderful  predictions  as  to  the  hour 
of  the  day  when  they  would  sight  the  enemy,  their  numbers,  the 
kind  of  p'lace  where  it  would  be,  as  a  grove,  small  prairie,  etc., 
which  predictions  turned  out  to  be  most  wonderfully  correct. 


78  THE  OJIBWAY 

out  and  hide  the  canoe,  carefully  obliterating  all 
trace  of  its  having  been  taken  out ;  then  stealthily 
go  down  among  the  woods  on  the  opposite  side 
from  the  creek,  if  creek  there  were,  till  opposite 
its  mouth,  and  then  see  what  was  to  be  seen. 

The  next  morning  there  was  not  much  conver 
sation  in  the  canoe;  a  sense  of  danger  produc 
ing  alertness  and  silence.  Before  noon  the  head 
of  a  bend  of  the  river,  which  seemed  to  answer 
to  the  description,  was  reached.  The  canoe  was 
taken  out  and  hidden,  and  the  party  proceeding 
cautiously  onward  through  the  thick  timber,  saw 
in  the  mouth  of  a  creek  on  the  opposite  bank  a 
large  party  of  the  dreaded  Sioux  cooking  their 
noon-day  meal.  With  fascinated  eyes  they 
watched  them  from  among  the  thick  leaves ;  saw 
them,  on  the  conclusion  of  their  meal,  throw 
their  utensils  into  their  canoes  and  proceed  up 
the  river.  It  was  an  anxious  moment  when  they 
passed  the  spot  where  the  canoe  had  been  taken 
out,  lest  any  bended  grass  or  disturbed  twigs 
should  betray  the  secret;  but  the  marks  had  been 
too  carefully  obliterated,  and  loudly  talking 
and  laughing  the  Sioux  passed  on  up  the  river. 
The  canoe  journey  was  now  resumed,  with  ex 
treme  caution.  They  were  near,  what  they  called 
Kichi-kakabikang,  At-the-Great-Fall,  the  Falls 
of  St  Anthony ;  and  it  was  known  that  there  was 
a  large  village  of  Sioux  west  of  there,  and  not 
far  off. 

At  last  the  vicinity  of  the  Fall  was  reached, 
and  there  the  canoe  was  taken  from  the  water 
and  hidden  in  the  woods  for  good.  Extreme  cau 
tion  was  now  necessary,  for  they  might  run 


THE  OJIBWAY  79 

across  enemies  any  moment.  But  Ogema,  who 
had  been  there  before,  piloted  them  under  the 
shadow  of  the  deep  woods,  through  dense  under 
brush  at  times,  and  partly  by  night,  for  a  dis 
tance  of  ten  miles,  until  they  peered  through  the 
thick  leaves  at  the  teepees  of  Little  Crow's  Sioux 
village,  on  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  where 
the  city  of  St.  Paul  now  stands.  Ogema  had 
led  them  to  the  very  central  village  of  their 
foes. 

As  they  lay  on  their  faces  on  the  ground 
among  the  dense  undergrowth,  they  watched 
with  keenest  interest  the  motions  of  their  ene 
mies.  They  were  so  near  that  they  could  hear 
them  talking,  could  even  distinguish  their  fea 
tures,  could  see  them  go  in  and  out  and  observe 
all  they  did.  The  little  children  were  playing 
about  with  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  the 
women  were  engaged  in  tanning  hides,  and  in 
their  various  avocations. 

There  was  a  large  village,  situated  on  a  high 
bluff,  at  the  foot  of  which  rolled  the  Mississippi, 
here  almost  doubled  in  size  by  the  emptying  into 
it  of  the  Minnesota  River  (Green-leaf  River,  the 
Ojibways  call  it)  five  miles  above.  There  was 
the  path  which  ran  down  into  the  ravine,  which 
they  followed  to  the  river  for  water,  because  the 
high  bank  on  which  their  village  Was  situated 
was  so  nearly  perpendicular  that  no  path  lay 
that  way.  The  Ojibways  noticed  that  the  village 
looked  very  different  from  theirs.  Instead  of 
wigwams  of  birch  bark,  these  teepees  were  of 
buffalo  hide.  They  noticed  that  the  Sioux 
Women's  way  of  housekeeping  was  in  many 


80  THE  OJIBWAY 

ways  different  from  theirs.  The  make  of  their 
clothes  was  also  different.  Their  voices  had  an 
unfamiliar  tone.  There  were  a  great  many  more 
ponies  tied  everywhere  about.  There  were  quan 
tities  of  buffalo  hides  everywhere  being  tanned, 
the  women  working  at  dressing  them.  These 
were  buffalo  Indians. 

It  was  strange  to  them  to  be  thus  in  the  pres 
ence  of  those  in  whose  presence  it  was  death  to 
be,  and  to  be  watching  their  every  movement. 
There  was  a  strange  fascination  about  it,  and 
they  did  not  for  a  long  time  even  wish  to  bring 
the  matter  to  a  close  by  doing  what  they  came 
for,  so  interested  were  they  in  all  they  saw. 

When  they  had  thus  spent  a  great  part  of  the 
day  in  observing,  and  considering  the  lay  of 
the  land,  and  how  they  could  best  get  a  favora 
ble  opportunity  for  securing  the  much-coveted 
scalps,  they  withdrew  some  distance  into  the 
thickest  recesses  of  the  woods,  in  a  place  where 
they  were  sure  the  Sioux  never  went,  and  dis 
cussed  what  they  were  to  do.  They  agreed  that 
it  was  hopeless  to  rush  into  the  village  and  kill 
by  daylight.  There  were  plenty  of  men  there, 
with  guns  all  loaded,  and  they  had  no  chance 
to  do  that  and  get  out  alive.  They  also  agreed 
that  to  attack  at  daylight,  the  Indian's  favorite 
time,  would  be  equally  certain  to  bring  destruc 
tion.  Their  enemies  would  start  from  sleep  at 
the  first  alarm,  and  overpower  them  before  they 
could  make  their  escape.  Ogema,  indeed,  was 
inclined  to  try  it.  He  told  them  that  he  had 
noticed  in  hunting  that  if  he  was  camped  in  the 
open  prairie  among  the  animals,  that  just  at 


THE  OJIBWAY  81 

the  spring  of  day  all  animals  were  unwilling  to 
move,  and  seemed  rather  to  prefer  to  be  killed 
than  to  violently  exert  themselves  to  escape  at 
that  time,  and  that  it  was  just  so  with  human 
beings.  That  just  at  break  of  day  there  was  the 
deepest  sleep,  and  the  greatest  unwillingness  to 
move;  and  that  they  might  break  in,  kill,  scalp, 
and  get  away  before  they  got  their  senses  gath 
ered.  But  the  others  would  not  hear  of  it,  as  too 
dangerous,  or  rather  certain  death,  as  the  village 
was  so  large.  But  there  was  one  thing  that  they 
had  observed.  There  was  a  path  not  far  from 
where  they  had  secreted  themselves  which  led 
back  into  the  country,  and  by  which  the  Sioux 
undoubtedly  brought  in  their  wood.  Some  of 
them  would  soon  go  out  for  wood,  for  they  no 
ticed  that  it  was  all  cut  off  directly  around  the 
village.  That  would  be  their  chance. 

Having  very  cautiously,  in  a  hollow,  cooked 
themselves  some  ducks  and  partridges  which 
they  had  brought  with  them,  and  eating  these 
and  some  wild  rice,  they  lay  down  to  sleep  and 
to  wait  for  the  events  of  the  morning. 

The  next  day  they  resumed  their  watch  of  the 
Indian  village,  but  found  no  good  opportunity. 
A  party  did  pass  out  by  the  path  before  spoken 
of,  but  they  were  hunters,  well  armed,  and  too 
strong  for  them.  They  had  to  content  them 
selves,  therefore,  with  lying  all  day  long  watch 
ing.  The  supply  of  food  they  had  brought  be 
gan  to  run  low,  and  their  spirits  fell  correspond 
ingly,  for  there  was  no  telling  how  many  days 
they  might  have  to  wait  before  a  favorable  op 
portunity  came.  They  were  hungry,  cold,  and 


82  THE  OJIBWAY 

uncomfortable,  for  they  could  not  make  much 
fire  for  fear  of  being  discovered.  Good-Sound 
ing-Sky  began  to  reflect  on  the  advice  his  wife 
had  given  him,  to  be  content  with  his  glory  as  a 
medicine  man,  and  thought  it  was  not  so  bad 
after  all. 

But  Ogema  encouraged  them,  so  they  held 
fast.  After  their  hasty  evening  meal  that  day, 
they  thought  they  would  go  back  and  view  the 
Indian  village  by  night,  and  went  to  their  accus 
tomed  place  of  observation  and  hiding.  The 
Sioux  had  made  large  fires  outside  their  teepees, 
which  lit  up  everything  as  light  as  day.  They 
were  all  out  around  them,  talking,  laughing  and 
sporting.  By  and  by  the  Ojibways  heard  a 
strange  sound  down  the  river.  It  seemed  like  a 
prolonged  sighing,  and  recurred  again  and 
again,  and  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  and  became 
louder.  They  noticed  that  the  Sioux  also 
observed  it,  for  they  turned  toward  it  from  their 
sporting  around  the  fire.  The  Ojibways  now 
heard  with  increased  amazement,  In  addition  to 
the  heavy  sighing,  a  beating  motion;  and  the 
whole  thing,  whatever  it  was,  drew  ever  nearer 
and  nearer.  Was  it  some  dreadful  spirit  of  the 
river,  or  what  was  it?  Ever  that  prolonged 
sighing  and  that  rapid  beating  in  the  dark.  The 
tension  on  their  nerves  was  great.  Was  it  an 
unknown  monster  that  was  approaching!  Was 
it  a  monster  of  the  deep  or  a  cannibal  giant  of 
the  land  ?  And  now  as  it  came  nearer  the  terrors 
of  sight  were  added  to  those  of  sound,  for  the 
monster  came  into  actual  sight.  It  was  in  the 
water,  and  was  swiftly  approaching  against  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  83 

current.  Its  sides  gleamed  fire,  and  occasionally 
it  vomited  showers  of  sparks  from  the  top.  This 
terrific  sight,  added  to  the  mysterious  and 
alarming  sound,  coming  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  froze  their  very  blood  with  terror.  They 
would  have  fled,  but  there  was  no  power  to  flee. 
They  were  in  a  strange  land,  a  hostile  country, 
and  now  this  thing  came  at  them. 

There  was  just  one  thing  upon  which,  up  to 
this  time,  they  had  steadied  themselves,  and 
which  had  heretofore  saved  them  from  the  ex 
tremity  of  panic,  and  that  was,  strange  to  say, 
the  Sioux.  In  spite  of  their  extreme  terror,  they 
noticed  that  the  Sioux  did  not  flee ;  that  they  did 
not  even  seem  greatly  afraid.  That,  and  their 
inability  to  flee,  had  till  now  held  them  in  their 
place.  But  now  occurred  the  horrible  catas 
trophe.  When  directly  opposite  them  in  the 
river,  the  thing,  whatever  it  was,  vomiting 
smoke  and  flame,  showing  fire  from  all  its  sides, 
and  beating,  beating  in  the  water  like  a  living 
thing,  all  of  a  sudden  let  out  the  most  unearthly 
screech  or  croak,  soul  fearing  and  penetrating 
enough  to  rend  soul  and  body  asunder.  Before 
they  knew  it  the  three  warriors  were  up  and 
madly  fleeing,  stumbling  over  fallen  logs, 
stumps  and  roots ;  not  knowing  where  they  went ; 
anywhere  to  get  away  from  that  soul-piercing 
shriek,  that  terrible  monster.  Their  guns  left 
behind,  their  blankets  too;  only  their  bodies 
they  took  with  them. 

They  had  kept  together  in  their  race  by 
a  blind  instinct,  and  they  now  cowered  together 


84  THE  OJIBWAY 

for  mutual  protection.  Ogema  was  the  first  to 
recover  command  of  himself. 

"See,"  he  said,  "look  at  those  Sioux;  they 
are  there  yet.  Stop ! ' '  With  that  he  seized  his 
two  panting,  struggling  companions,  and  forci 
bly  held  them.  "Well,  I  never,"  he  cried,  be 
ginning  to  recover  from  his  panic;  "I  have 
been  down  and  the  Sioux  over  me,  hacking  at 
me  with  their  tomahawks,  and  I  never  was 
scared,  never  till  this  night;  but  this  time  my 
very  blood  was  chilled  with  fear." 

"It  seemed  to  me,"  said  Yellow  Thunder, 
"that  the  very  bottom  fell  out  of  my  stomach 
when  that  thing  let  out  that  roar.  I  was  scared 
before,  but  that  finished  me. ' ' 

"Well,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "I  am 
trembling  yet.  I  don't  know  how  I  got  started, 
but  I  think  if  you  had  not  taken  hold  of  me, 
Ogema,  I  would  have  run  on  to  Gull  Lake!" 

They  now  held  a  consultation  as  to  what  to  do, 
and  what  it  could  have  been,  and  finally  they 
remembered  that  they  had  heard  a  rumor  about 
some  new  kind  of  contrivance  of  the  white  peo 
ple  for  bringing  supplies  up  to  the  fort  not  far 
off,  and  concluded  that  that  must  be  it.  The 
Sioux,  they  knew,  must  have  seen  it  when  it 
came  up  before,  and  that  was  why  they  did  not 
flee.  They  then  considered  how  disgraceful  it 
would  be  to  them  as  warriors  to  leave  their  guns 
and  blankets,  so  they  picked  up  courage  to  go 
stealthily  back  and  get  them,  after  which  they 
withdrew  for  the  night  to  their  temporary  hid 
ing-place  in  the  recesses  of  the  wood. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  BLOW  FALLS. 

The  next  morning  dawned  sweet  and  beauti 
ful  over  the  Sioux  village  and  the  lovely  scenes 
of  river,  hill,  and  dale  by  which  it  was  sur 
rounded.  But  it  brought  with  it  the  three  Ojib- 
ways,  and  from  their  accustomed  place  of  am 
bush  their  eyes  were  fastened  upon  the  village. 
They  had  explored  the  trail  or  path  before  spoken 
of  to  see  where  it  led  to,  and  whether  it  would 
afford  a  favorable  opportunity  for  their  design. 
They  found  that  it  led,  as  they  had  supposed, 
to  a  place  where  the  Sioux  chopped  wood;  and 
that  it  ran  along  the  bottom  of  a  little  plateau, 
on  the  top  of  which  they  were,  running  in  a  half 
circle  round  the  base,  so  that  they  by  running 
back  a  little  ways  could,  by  a  shorter  interior 
line,  command  any  persons  walking  upon  it,  and 
themselves,  hidden  in  the  underbrush,  have  them 
in  plain  sight  in  the  open  at  very  short  range. 
They  all  agreed  that  if  any  persons  came  out 
from  the  village  by  that  wood-road  they  would 
be  easy  victims,  and  that  that  was  the  place  for 
them  to  make  their  strike. 

A  Sioux  man  came  out  of  one  of  the  teepees 
that  morning  and  stood  some  time  admiring  the 
scene.  There  was  the  broad  river  at  his  feet, 
sleeping  calmly  in  the  morning  sun  and  breath 
less  air.  There  on  the  other  side  were  the 


86  THE  OJIBWAY 

meadows,  and  farther  back  the  line  of  bluffs,  all 
clothed  in  the  deepest  green  of  May.  There 
around  him  were  the  teepees  of  the  Sioux,  and 
back  of  them  the  dark  woods.  He  did  not  think 
that  out  of  them,  unknown  to  him,  the  sinister 
eyes  of  death  were  already  fastened  upon  him. 
Thoughts  of  many  things  passed  through  his 
mind,  called  up  by  the  scene  before  him,  and  he 
soliloquized : 

"I  think,"  said  he,  "that  this  is  the  fairest 
spot  on  earth  where  we  have  our  village.  I  have 
seen  many  places,  I  have  been  up  many  days' 
journey  to  the  head  of  this  Minnesota  River, 
to  the  Yellow  Medicine  country  where  our  rela 
tives  live,  and  I  have  been  down  this  great  river 
some  distance,  and  I  never  saw  a  spot  so  fair  as 
this.  The  two  great  rivers  converge  here,  the 
Minnesota  and  this  great  river,  and  here  is  the 
centre  of  the  earth.  Those  living  off  in  other 
places,  no  matter  how  beautiful  they  may  be, 
seem  to  me  to  be  living  in  outlandish  places. 
Here  we  have  everything.  That  river  is  full  of 
fish,  and  the  little  lakes  back  of  us  are  full  of 
them— we  can  get  all  we  want.  And  not  very  far 
back  from  that  line  of  bluffs  across  the  river, 
on  the  green  prairies,  and  among  the  groves  are 
black  masses  of  buffalo.  We  have  to  ride  on  our 
ponies  but  a  little  ways,  and  we  are  right  among 
them.  Is  there  anything  better  than  the  buffalo 
meat  we  have  abundance  of,  and  pemmican? 
We  are  never  cold,  for  the  skins  of  those  buffa 
loes  clothe  us  so  warmly  that  no  cold  can  pene 
trate  to  us.  And  we  have  soft  couches  of  buf 
falo  skins  under  us  to  lie  on. ' ' 


THE  OJIBWAY  87 

Here  he  happened  to  raise  his  eyes  to  an  island 
a  few  miles  up  the  river,  near  where  the  Minne 
sota  came  in,  and  it  aroused  a  train  of  reflec 
tions.  "I  remember  when  the  first  Frenchmen 
came  here  a  few  years  ago  they  camped  for  the 
night  on  the  bank  of  the  river  opposite  that 
island,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  night  the  buffa 
loes  came  trampling  down  there  in  such  immense 
numbers  that  they  were  almost  trampled  to 
death,  and  only  escaped  by  taking  to  their 
canoes  and  going  over  to  that  island.  How  we 
Sioux  laughed  about  it!  Their  tent  was  tram 
pled  into  the  ground  and  most  of  their  goods 
destroyed  by  the  buffaloes.  What  a  wonderful 
supply  of  food  we  have  in  them!  And  there 
are  so  many  of  them  that  I  think  they  will  last 
while  the  world  lasts.  We  kill  all  we  want,  and 
there  are  just  as  many." 

Then  he  lifted  his  eyes  to  a  high  point  of  land, 
the  sharp  angle  in  the  junction  between  the 
Minnesota  and  the  Mississippi  Elvers,  where 
there  were  some  buildings  visible,  and  a  flag, 
and  it  started  another  train  of  reflections : 

' 1  Those  people  were  cunning  in  choosing  that 
commanding  spot  for  their  fort,  just  between 
the  two  rivers,  at  their  junction,  for  it  is  impos 
sible  to  scramble  up  those  steep  banks  and  attack 
it  from  any  side  except  the  rear.  Some  people 
think  that  those  people  will  some  day  come  to 
us,  and  that  they  will  even  take  our  lands  from 
us  and  drive  us  away,  but  I  do  not  think  so. 
do  not  think  we  shall  ever  have  any  more  of 
them  than  we  have  now,  just  the  few  soldiers 
in  the  fort.  And  why  I  think  so  is,  for  one 


88  THE  OJIBWAY 

reason,  that  I  have  been  awav  down  this  river 
many  days'  journey,  and  did  not  see  one  of  them 
the  whole  way.  Only  at  the  end  of  my  journey, 
the  River- with-the-bar-at-the-mouth,  (the  Wis 
consin  River),  I  saw  a  few,  and  they  only  sol 
diers  in  a  fort,  just  as  here.  For  many  years 
now  there  have  been  just  so  many  of  them  and 
no  more.  They  don't  get  more  numerous,  so 
I  think  they  will  remain  just  as  they  are  now. 
And  then  they  could  never  get  here.  In  winter 
the  river  is  frozen  over,  and  that  might  afford 
them  a  road  to  be  sure;  but  there  are  so  many 
open  and  weak  places  in  the  ice  where  the  water 
runs  swift,  that  they  would  certainly  break 
through  and  be  drowned.  It  is  as  much  as  we 
can  do,  who  know  every  weak  place,  to  keep  out 
of  them.  And  then  if  they  left  the  river  and 
tried  to  come  by  land  there  is  no  road;  there  is 
thick  timber,  and  countless  ravines,  and  deep 
rivers  to  cross,  and  they  would  never  get  here. 
To  be  sure,  in  summer  some  of  them  might  come 
by  that  strange  thing  that  came  last  night,  the 
fire-canoe,  but  that  has  been  coming  here  occa 
sionally  for  some  years,  and  it  doesn't  bring 
anything  ibult  some  supplies  for  the  soldiers, 
and  some  recruits,  so  I  think  we  shall  never  see 
anything  more  of  those  people  than  we  do  now. 
"I  remember  how  scared  we  were  when  the 
first  fire-canoe  came  up.  We  all  fled  to  the  woods 
and  hid,  when  it  whistled. ' '  Here  he  laughed  at 
the  recollection  of  it.  "It  whistled  last  night 
when  just  opposite  us,  saluting  us."  Here  he 
laughed  again.  He  looked  at  the  distant  fort 


THE  OJIBWAY  89 

once  more,  and  a  new  train  of  thought  arose  in 
his  mind: 

4  *  Their  firing  that  morning  and  evening  gun 
scares  the  buffalo  and  the  other  game  away,  so 
we  have  to  go  farther  to  find  them.  But  then 
our  drumming  on  our  medicine  drums  scares 
them  away,  too,  but  not  so  far,  for  the  sound 
doesn't  reach  so  far. 

"And  those  officers  hunting  kill  a  good  deal 
of  our  game."  Here  a  shade  of  anger  crossed 
his  face,  but  it  passed  off  as  he  thought :  "Well, 
there  is  enough  for  all  of  us,  and  no  matter  how 
much  all  of  us  kill,  it  makes  no  appreciable  dif 
ference  in  their  numbers.  It  amuses  us  to  watch 
those  people,  their  ways  are  so  different  from 
ours.  We  rather  enjoy  having  them  here  just 
to  watch  them.  By  the  by,  the  head  man  has 
just  promulgated  an  order  that  none  of  our 
women  are  to  be  in  that  fort  after  dusk,  but  for 
all  that  they  are  seen  coming  out  from  there  in 
the  gray  of  the  morning.  And  there  are  several 
white-headed  babies  now  in  our  village.  The 
officers  are  the  most  in  that,  for  they  have  the 
most  money  to  give  our  women  things.  And 
there  is  a  curious  thing,  they  think  themselves 
far  superior  to  us  in  every  way,  and  yet  those 
officers,  when  they  are  changed  to  some  other 
fort,  go  away  and  leave  their  children  here,  and 
utterly  abandon  them— never  do  a  single  thing 
for  them.  We  wouldn't  do  that!"  Here  he 
became  indignant.  "Even  a  wolf  on  the  prairie 
would  not  do  that  to  its  offspring !  And  yet  they 
hold  themselves  as  little  gods  compared  with 


90  THE  OJIBWAY 

us!"    He  laughed  with  scorn  as  he  thought 
of  it. 

1 '  There  is  one  man  in  there  who  is  different 
from  the  rest.  Although  he  is  employed  by 
fighting  men,  he  is  always  preaching  of  peace. 
I  do  not  understand  how  that  is."  Here  there 
was  a  puzzled  expression  on  his  face.  l '  He  told 
some  of  us  that  we  should  not  kill  the  Ojibways ; 
that  we  should  love  them!  The  strangest  talk 
I  ever  heard  in  my  life!  Have  we  not  always 
been  killing  them,  and  they  us,  whenever  we 
could  get  a  chance?  And  he  says  we  ought  to 
love  them!  Well,  that  beats  me.  Ha,  ha,  ha!" 
Here  he  laughed.  "And  he  told  us,  too,  not  to 
gamble,  and  that  we  should  not  drink  the  fire 
water  which  they  bring  us.  It  would  be  better 
for  him  to  talk  to  his  own  people,  for  they  make 
it.  It  seems  to  me  he  is  trying  to  take  all  the 
joy  out  of  our  lives.  And  on  one  day  in  every 
seven  he  harangues  them.  I  went  in  once  to  see 
what  they  did  in  there,  and  there  he  was,  sure 
enough,  dressed  up  with  a  big  white  robe  all  over 
his  clothes,  and  a  black  band  down  the  length  of 
it  on  either  side,  and  he  read  out  of  a  book,  and 
prayed,  and  they  sang.  I  know  what  praying 
is,  for  we  pray  ourselves,  and  we  sing,  too, 
though  it  sounds  very  different  from  theirs. 
They  had  no  drum.  Then  he  talked  and  talked 
to  them.  I  guess  he  was  exhorting  them  to  be 
good.  When  he  had  ended  they  nearly  all  left ; 
but  a  few  stayed,  and  I  stayed,  too,  for  I  wanted 
to  see  all  they  did  to  the  very  end.  And  then 
he  prayed  again,  and  took  something,  I  do  not 
know  what  it  was,  and  gave  It  to  each  of  them. 


THE  OJIBWAY  91 

I  guess  It  was  "WAR AN",  (MYSTERIOUS- 
HOLY).  First  he  put  into  the  hands  of  each  a 
piece  of  Bread,  and  then  gave  each  a  silver  cup 
to  take  a  sip  out  of.  It  was  not  fire-water  that 
was  in  that  cup,  and  It  was  not  water.  I  do  not 
know  what  It  was.  Perhaps  the  juice  of  grapes. 
There  were  not  many  of  them  received  That  be 
sides  him,  and  they  were  mostly  women,  the 
wives  of  officers.  The  men  mostly  rose  and  went 
out  before  That  was  administered.  But  the  men 
who  remained  and  took  It  were  the  men  I  like 
best  of  any  in  the  garrison.  I  wonder  what  It 
was." 

The  flag  flying  over  the  fort,  now  attracted 
his  attention  for  a  moment.  "I  have  seen  En 
glish  flags,"  he  said.  " There  were  English 
traders  here  not  long  ago  till  these  people  sent 
soldiers  and  drove  them  out.  I  hear  the  English 
used  to  rule  over  these  people;  that  they  had 
them  for  their  slaves,  but  they  turned  on  them 
and  whipped  them  out  of  this  country,  and  they 
ran  to  their  ships,  got  in,  and  sailed  away." 

His  eye  now  wandered  up  the  river.  "We 
do  not  any  of  us  know  where  that  river  heads; 
none  of  us  have  ever  been  there.  A  good  rea 
son"— laughing— "why  we  don't  go,  for  our 
enemies,  the  Dwellers-at-the-Falls*  (the  0 jib- 
ways),  live  there.  But  I  would  like  to  go,  for  all 
that,  and  explore  that  river,  and  see  those  coun 
tries,  and  may  be  I  would  bring  back  a  scalp  or 
two  if  I  had  good  luck. 

"There  is  one  thing  they  have  there  that  is 

*This  no  doubt  refers  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie  near  the  original 
home  of  the  Ojibways. 


92  THE  OJIBWAY 

superior  to  what  we  have,  and  that  is  wild  rice. 
They  say  there  are  great  fields  of  it  up  there, 
and  here  we  have  hardly  a  taste.  I  wish  I  had 
some  to  eat  with  the  ducks  I  kill." 

"And  are  we  not  fortunate,"  he  thought  as 
he  looked  toward  the  north  and  completed  the 
circuit  of  his  vision,  "that  we  have  villages  of 
our  people  living  between  us  and  them,  right 
close  here  at  the  Falls,  to  protect  us  from  them. 
The  mean  wretches  steal  down  on  us  in  their 
canoes."  (As  he  thought  of  this,  anger  again 
clouded  his  face),  "and  sneaking  up,  try  to  kill 
us;  but  they  first  come  upon  our  friends  at  the 
Falls,  and  they  have  to  take  it,  and  we  are  shel 
tered  behind  them  in  safety.  That  is  one  reason 
why  I  think  this  place  the  most  desirable  in  the 
world,  because  it  is  so  safe.  I  have  been  up 
there  at  the  villages  about  the  Falls  when  they 
were  trembling,  not  knowing  but  some  of  the 
mean  wretches  were  stealing  upon  them;  but 
here  in  the  centre  we  are  always  safe.  Come  to 
think,"  he  said,  looking  at  the  river,  "it  is  some 
time  since  I  have  made  an  offering  to  the  spirit 
under  the  river.  I  know  some  who  were  drowned 
there,  and  some  who  had  their  children  drowned. 
I  suppose  they  were  pulled  under  by  the  river- 
god,  who  was  angry  because  they  did  not  make 
an  offering.  But  no  misfortune  has  ever  be 
fallen  me,  nor  any  of  my  children.  They  have 
been  playing  in  the  water,  and  none  of  them  has 
ever  been  drowned,  because  I  have  been  careful 
every  once  in  a  while  to  make  an  offering  to  the 
god.  It  is  some  time  since  I  have  done  it,  and 
I  will  go  and  do  it  now,  and  then  I  will  go  up  to 


THE  OJIBWAY  93 

the  village  near  the  Falls  and  see  how  the  folks 
are  getting  along  there,  and  on  the  way  I  will 
show  my  wife  and  her  sister  where  to  chop  wood, 
and  bring  some  of  it  here,  for  we  burned  a  good 
deal  last  night. ' ' 

With  that  he  disappeared  into  his  teepee,  and 
soon  coming  out,  followed  the  path  to  the  river's 
brink,  where  he  stood  for  a  few  minutes  address 
ing  the  deity  underneath,  then  cast  in  a  piece  of 
bright  scarlet  cloth,  of  considerable  value,  which 
at  the  cost  of  much  exertion  he  had  got  from  the 
traders  in  exchange  for  skins.  He  followed  it 
with  his  eye  as  it  went  floating  down  the  stream, 
a  striking  object,  until  it  was  out  of  sight. 

His  wife  now  appeared  on  the  scene,  a  comely 
woman  of  about  thirty-five,  and  behind  her  came 
her  sister.  She  looked  around  a  minute,  then 
called  loudly  to  her  eldest  daughter,  Winona, 
to  come  out  to  her. 

"Your  aunt  and  I  are  going  into  the  woods 
to  chop ;  now  see  that  you  are  a  good  little  girl 
till  I  return,  and  take  good  care  of  your  little 
brother  there, "  —here  she  pointed  to  the  little 
toddler,  who  had  followed  his  sister  out  of  the 
teepee,— "and  do  not  let  him  fall  into  the  fire 
or  into  the  river.  Now  mind  that  you  take  good 
care  of  him  and  be  a  good  girl."  As  she  said 
these  words  she  gave  the  little  girl  some  good- 
natured  slaps  with  her  open  hand  on  the  part 
behind  where  correction  is  usually  administered ; 
not  enough  to  hurt  her,  but  enough  to  impress 
upon  her  the  words  which  she  had  just  spoken. 

With  that,  taking  her  woman's  ax,  and  her 
sister  doing  the  same,  they  both  started  on  the 


94  THE  OJIBWAY 

trail  toward  the  woods ;  her  husband,  who  had 
by  this  time  come  up  from  the  river 's  brink,  pre 
ceding  her. 

The  Ojibways  saw  the  party  starting  from  the 
village;  saw  the  axes  and  knew  just  what  they 
were  going  to  do.  They  quickly  started  from 
their  place  of  concealment,  and  with  long,  swift 
steps  made  for  the  knoll  overlooking  the  path 
which  they  had  selected.  Soon  the  three  came 
in  sight,  the  man  leading.  All  were  unconscious 
of  danger.  Nearer,  nearer  they  drew,  till  they 
were  within  easy  range.  They  saw  nothing  of 
the  Ojibways  hidden  behind  the  thick-screen  of 
leaves.  Ogema,  as  an  old  seasoned  warrior, 
and  the  leader  of  the  party,  claimed  the  man; 
the  others  each  selected  a  victim.  Suddenly 
three  shots  reverberated  among  the  hills  and  a 
deed  of  blood  had  been  done.  Some  birds  flew 
away,  startled  and  screaming,  but  the  sun  shone 
on  sweetly  as  before.  The  man  was  lying  on 
the  ground  with  his  thigh  broken,  but  defiant 
and  angry.  The  younger  woman  was  shot 
through  the  body,  and  seemed  fainting.  The 
older  woman  was  uninjured,  and  wildly  calling, 
"My  children,  my  children !"  started  to  run  to 
the  village.  Ogema  in  an  instant  leaped  upon 
his  man,  who,  drawing  his  knife,  bravely  de 
fended  himself,  and  it  required  considerable 
effort  on  his  part  to  reach  him  with  his  toma 
hawk  and  dispatch  him.  The  woman  on  the 
ground  was  easily  killed.  While  Ogema  was 
fighting  hand-to-hand  with  the  wounded  man, 
the  one  who  had  missed  took  after  the  screaming 
woman,  and,  catching  her  by  her  long  braids  of 


THE  OJIBWAY  95 

hair,  stabbed  her  repeatedly  in  the  back  with  his 
tomahawk. 

In  the  brief  period  that  this  event  had  con 
sumed  a  change  had  come  over  the  feelings  of 
the  warriors.  Before  it  was  the  desire  to  ac 
complish  what  they  came  for,  that  their  labor 
and  pains  should  not  be  in  vain.  Now  it  was 
the  desire  to  escape  and  get  back  safe.  They 
knew  that  those  shots  would  be  heard  at  the 
Sioux  village,  and  that  although  no  one  consid 
ered  there  was  a  possibility  of  any  enemy  being 
near,  yet  some  would  be  sent  to  investigate,  and 
that  quick  pursuit  would  be  made.  Therefore 
what  they  had  yet  to  do  must  be  done  quickly. 
A  knife  was  passed  round  each  head  of  the 
dead;  the  scalp  pulled  off  and  fastened 
securely  at  the  girdle  of  each.  Next,  Ogema 
tore  open  the  breast  of  the  dead  man,  and 
pulled  out  the  reeking  and  yet  'almost  palpitat 
ing  heart,  drank  some  of  the  blood  that  plenti 
fully  flowed  from  it,  and  smeared  it  all  over  his 
face.  He  gave  the  heart  in  turn  to  each  of  his 
two  companions,  and  told  them  to  drink  of  it. 

"That  was  a  brave  man,"  he  said.  "He 
fought  me  to  the  last,  and  when  he  could  no 
longer  move  he  scowled  and  tried  to  spit  at  me. 
Here  I  drink  his  heart's  blood  that  I  may  get 
his  courage !  If  he  had  been  a  coward  I  would 
not  touch  it !  And  I  will  take  a  mouthful  of  his 
heart,"  he  said,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word, 
"that  his  courage  may  more  surely  come  into 
me."  Here  he  offered  it  to  his  younger  Com 
panions  and  told  them  to  do  the  same  quickly. 
"Oh,  I  wish  I  could  take  his  whole  head,  and 


96  THE  OJIBWAY 

carry  it  home,  and  not  merely  his  scalp.  It 
would  be  such  a  thing  to  show  to  the  people ! ' ' 

Here  his  companions  remonstrated  with  him. 
"If  you  talk  of  such  a  foolish  thing  as  trying 
to  carry  that  head,"  said  one,  "we  will  go  off 
alone  and  leave  you  to  your  fate.  You  know  we 
shall  have  to  run  now  for  our  lives.  And  do 
you  think  you  can  escape  encumbered  with  that 
heavy  thing  ?" 

They  now  hastily  performed  the  last  rites  for 
time  was  precious.  Yellow  Thunder  brought  out 
the  lock  of  his  child's  hair  and  tenderly  kissed 
it.  "0  my  daughter,  my  daughter !  Here  is  the 
last  thing  that  your  father  can  ever  do  for  you, 
my  daughter.  I  have  done  you  the  last  honor 
I  can,  and  now  good-by."  With  this  he  put  the 
lock  into  the  mangled  body  among  the  warm 
bowels  and  turned  away.  The  other  memorials 
of  deceased  children  and  friends  with  which  they 
had  been  entrusted  by  the  parents  were  now 
hastily  bestowed  in  the  same  way,  or  thrown 
away  on  the  battle  ground.  The  former  they 
did  for  very  particular  and  dear  friends;  the 
latter  for  those  to  whom  they  did  not  consider 
themselves  so  indebted.  But  many  images  and 
memorials  which  had  been  almost  forced  upon 
them  they  did  not  bring  to  the  place  at  all. 

Then,  as  the  last  thing,  they  hastily,  with  their 
large  knives,  dismembered  the  bodies  so  far 
as  they  could;  cut  off  and  cast  the  pieces  of 
flesh  around,  not  from  any  wanton  cruelty,  but 
to  duly  impress  their  enemies  with  the  power 
and  fury  of  the  Ojibways.  Last  of  all,  they  gave 
forth  their  clear  Sa-sa-kwe,  war-whoop  of  tri- 


THE  OJIBWAY  97 

umph,  victors  upon  the  field,  and  fled  from  the 
scene. 

The  Dakotas,  on  hearing  the  shots,  thought  it 
was  some  of  their  friends  from  the  villages  back 
of  the  Falls  coming  to  visit  them,  shooting  at 
partridges,  but  yet  sent  out  messengers  to  see. 
These  at  a  distance  saw  the  Ojibways  dismem 
bering  their  victims,  and  quickly  announced  it  in 
the  village.  Then  followed  a  wild  commotion; 
children  crying,  women  in  alarm,  warriors 
snatching  guns  and  tomahawks  and  running 
to  the  spot.  The  Ojibways  had  immediately 
darted  into  the  leafy  underbrush,  where  it  was 
impossible  to  see  them,  and  where  it  was  very 
difficult  to  track  them.  The  Dakotas,  burning 
with  wrath,  tried  to  head  them  off,  to  surround 
them.  They,  however,  kept  a  steady  course  to 
strike  the  river  some  miles  above  the  fort,  and 
when  they  came  to  the  brink  they  waded  in  it 
some  distance,  so  as  to  make  it  impossible  to 
track  them;  then  carefully  obliterating  their 
tracks  where  they  left  it,  buried  themselves  in 
the  deepest  recesses  of  the  wood.  Here  they 
remained  till  night-fall,  when  they  arose  and 
pursued  their  way  by  the  north  star.  In  the 
morning  they  felt  themselves  safe;  to  find 
them  in  that  vast  leafy  wilderness  was  impossi 
ble  except  by  chance.  But  to  make  assurance 
doubly  sure  they  again  lay  hid  all  day  and  trav 
eled  the  following  night. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

UNEXPECTED  GOOD   FORTUNE. 

Our  hunters  were  now  in  high  spirits  as,  well 
rested,  they  resumed  their  journey.  They  had 
accomplished  that  for  which  they  set  out,  and 
that  without  the  loss  of  a  man  or  the  touch  of  a 
bullet.  They  had  passed  through  a  trying  expe 
rience  successfully,  and  had  surmounted  danger. 
Their  minds  were  now  free  from  care,  and  their 
thoughts  were  of  home  and  of  the  reception  that 
awaited  them.  They  talked  of  the  people  whose 
housekeeping  they  had  secretly  watched,  and  of 
the  incidents  of  their  trip.  The  scalps  they 
treated  with  great  respect.  Every  morning  the 
hair  was  carefully  combed.  They  offered 
them  food  before  they  partook  themselves.  The 
party  now  had  plenty  to  eat  and  of  the  best,  for 
the  country  was  full  of  game.  They  traveled 
on  foot,  avoiding  the  river,  knowing  that  there 
their  enemies  would  be  certain  to  look  for  them. 

On  the  second  day,  as  they  were  proceeding 
leisurely  along,  laughing  and  talking,  all  of  a 
sudden  something  utterly  unexpected  occurred. 
They  heard  the  faint  sound  of  an  ax !  Stopping 
short,  their  hearts  beating  quickly,  they  looked 
at  each  other  in  amazement.  "What  is  this?" 
they  fearfully  asked  each  other.  They  thought 
no  human  beings  were  nearer  them  than  the 
villages  of  the  Sioux  near  the  Falls,  which  they 


THE  OJIBWAY  99 

had  left  far  behind,  and  their  own  villages  in 
front  at  Gull  Lake,  over  four  days'  journey 
away.  The  next  moment  they  were  stealthily 
but  rapidly  making  their  way  in  the  direction 
of  that  sound,  which  grew  ever  clearer  and 
clearer,  till,  peering  through  the  leafy  screen, 
there  stood  before  them  the  buffalo  skin  of  a 
Sioux  teepee!  There  in  front  was  the  owner 
of  the  lodge,  a  stalwart  Sioux,  plying  the 
ax.  There  was  his  wife  skinning  a  deer  which 
he  had  evidently  lately  killed.  There  was  a 
young  woman  just  grown  up,  evidently  their 
daughter,  and  four  younger  children,  the 
youngest  not  much  more  than  a  baby.  Evidently 
a  Sioux  family  who  had  come  out  there  tempo 
rarily  for  a  hunt.  Away  from  the  river,  which 
was  the  great  high-road,  and  deep  in  the  recesses 
of  the  forest,  they  had  no  thought  of  seeing  any 
one,  least  of  all  the  Ojibways,  whose  nearest 
villages  they  knew  were  far,  far  away.  In  abso 
lute  safety,  as  they  supposed,  they  were  enjoying 
themselves  there  in  the  wilderness. 

The  Ojibways  surveyed  them  at  very  close 
range  for  some  time.  They  took  in  all  the 
differences  between  their  outfit  and  manner  of 
living  and  their  own;  the  skin  lodge,  the  differ 
ent  kind  of  leggings  the  man  wore,  the  strange 
sound  of  the  Sioux  language.  When  they  had 
completed  their  survey  they  looked  at  each  other 
and  Ogema  said  significantly:  "Ki  shawenda- 
gosimin."  The  others  nodded  equally  signifi 
cantly,  and  reechoed  his  words:  "Ki  shawenda- 
gosimin."  This  is  a  common  expression  among 
Indians,  when  some  piece  of  good  fortune  unex- 


100  THE  OJIBWAY 

pectedly  befalls  them,  and  means,  "We  are 
blessed  because  we  are  worthy  of  blessing. ' ' 

"Yes,"  answered  Ogema,  "we  are  holy;  there 
is  no  evil  to  be  seen  among  us."* 

"My  heart  is  filled  with  gratitude,"  said 
Good-Sounding-Sky,  "for  this  grace,  which  is 
so  far  beyond  what  we  could  have  expected. ' ' 

"Yes,"  answered  Yellow  Thunder,  "we  had 
already  received  great  blessing,  got  all  that  we 
could  have  desired,  and  now  to  think  of  this  on 
top  of  all!" 

"It  is  always  so,"  returned  Good-Sounding- 
Sky.  "Every  once  in  a  while  the  Indian  is 
blessed  beyond  what  he  could  have  expected. 
Sometimes  when  a  family  is  starving  a  bear 
comes  prowling  about  their  lodge  looking  for 
something  to  eat,  and,  as  it  were,  puts  his  body 
into  their  hands,  and  in  an  instant  they  have 
plenty. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Yellow  Thunder,  "it  is  like  as 
with  their  wild  rice ;  they  neither  sow  it  nor  put 
a  fence  around  it,  nor  take  any  care  of  it,  and 
yet  when  the  season  comes  round  there  it  is 
ready  at  their  hand  to  reap." 

"The  Indian  is  certainly  watched  over  and 
provided  for  in  a  wonderful  way,"  said  Good- 
Sounding-Sky. 

"Um-m-m,"  interposed  Ogema.  "That 
man,  so  unconcerned  there,  does  not  know  that  I 


It  may  seem  unnatural  that  people  who  had  just  done  a  deed 
such  as  they  had  should  say  "we  are  holy,"  and  "there  Is  no  evil 
to  be  seen  among  us,"  but  these  are  the  very  reflections  that  arose 
in  their  minds,  and  these  are  the  very  words  they  said.  Their 
consciences  did  not  reproach  them  in  the  least  with  what  they  had 
done.  Prom  their  standpoint,  and  according  to  their  ideas,  their 
conduct  had  been  free  from  blame,  indeed  positively  meritorious 
and  praiseworthy. 


THE  OJIBWAy  101 

shall  be  wriggling  my  knife  between  his  ribs 
before  this  time  tomorrow. " 

"And  those  children  who  are  playing  so  mer 
rily  do  not  know  that  their  brains  will  be  lying 
scattered  under  those  trees  before  very  long," 
answered  Yellow  Thunder. 

"What  had  we  better  do?"  asked  Ogema. 
"Rush  on  them  at  once  and  finish  it  up  right 
now  1  They  are  unarmed  and  have  no  suspicion 
of  danger. ' ' 

"No,"  said  Yellow  Thunder,  "that  is  not  the 
way.  Although  it  seems  so  easy,  yet  if  we  at 
tempt  it  now  some  of  them  will  be  sure  to  dart 
into  the  brush  and  escape  us.  Better  make  a 
sure  thing  of  it.  If  any  of  them  run  in  there  it 
will  be  utterly  impossible  for  us  ever  to  find 
them.  Just  as  impossible  as  it  was  for  the  Sioux 
to  find  us,  though  you  may  be  sure  they  tried 
hard  enough!  They  might  die  in  there  if  they 
were  young  and  could  not  find  food,  but  we 
would  never  find  them. ' ' 

"Better  for  us,"  observed  Ogema,  "to  keep 
to  the  wise  old  ways  that  our  forefathers  taught 
us.  They  always  rushed  upon  those  they  killed 
at  the  first  break  of  day.  They  will  be  buried 
in  deepest  sleep  then." 

"If  we  could  only  keep  one  of  them  alive," 
said  Yell  ow  Thunder,  1 1  and  take  him  to  our  vil 
lage,  what  a  glorious  exploit  it  would  be." 

"Yes,"  responded  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "we 
ought  to  think  of  our  women,  and  of  the  little 
children.  What  a  pleasure  it  would  be  to  them 
to  see  a  live  Roaster;  to  put  their  hand  on  one 


102*'..'  THE  OJ1BWAY 

and  still  live !  Although  there  is  great  joy  over 
a  scalp,  yet  it  would  be  as  nothing  compared 
with  the  joy  if  we  could  deliver  one  of  these  peo 
ple  alive  at  Gull  Lake." 

"Although  I  have  now  no  children  of  my 
own, "  said  Yellow  Thunder,  a  pang  of  grief 
shooting  through  his  heart  at  the  recollection  of 
his  dead  child,  "yet  I  think  of  the  hundreds  of 
little  children  at  Gull  Lake,  and  would  dearly 
love  to  gratify  them  by  placing  a  living  Sioux  in 
their  village.  How  they  would  hide  behind  their 
mothers'  skirts,  hardly  daring  to  take  a  look  of 
fearful  joy  at  the  dreaded  Boaster." 

"Yes,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,"  ever  since 
they  can  remember  anything  they  can  remember 
how  their  mothers  stilled  them  when  they  cried, 
'Be  still !  there  comes  the  Sioux  to  take  you.'  " 

"It  can  be  done,"  said  Ogema,  "and  if  we 
succeed  in  delivering  a  Sioux  alive  at  Gull  Lake 
it  will  be  one  of  the  greatest  exploits  ever  accom 
plished,  and  the  doers  of  it  will  have  reputations 
that  will  never  be  forgotten.  We  are  now  far 
from  the  Sioux  and  beyond  all  pursuit.  A  cap 
tive  will  encumber  us,  it  is  true,  but  we  can  take 
our  time,  and  need  not  travel  any  faster  than  we 
wish.  The  joy  will  be  unbounded  when  we  get 
there.  The  question  is  whom  shall  we  take?  It 
will  not  do  to  try  to  take  that  man,  for  he  would 
be  constantly  trying  to  escape,  and  might  suc 
ceed  in  spite  of  all  our  vigilance ;  and  even  if  he 
did  not,  he  would  be  sure  to  be  fighting  angry, 
should  have  to  kill  him  before  we  got  him  there. 
He  would  not  be  willing  to  go  along,  and  we 
could  not  make  him.  And  then  there  is  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  103 

woman.  She  would  be  so  desperate  over  the  loss 
of  her  children  that  we  never  would  get  her  there 
alive  if  we  attempted  it.  So  it  will  not  do  to 
think  of  that.  And  then  as  for  taking  any  of 
those  half-grown  children,  they  are  too  young 
and  could  not  march,  and  we  cannot  carry  them. 
Then  we  have  deep  rivers  to  cross,  and  it  is  out 
of  the  question  to  take  any  of  them.  So  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  one  to  take  is  that  young  woman. 
She  is  strong  and  can  march  as  well  as  any  of 
us.  But  the  great  point  is,  that  she  is  young 
and  soft-hearted,  and  will  readily  obey  us,  she 
will  be  so  afraid.  She  will  not  be  ugly  nor  des 
perate,  as  both  her  father  and  her  mother  would 
be." 

"What  on  earth  ever  brought  them  out  to 
this  lonesome  place,"  said  Yellow  Thunder. 
"What  fools  they  were  to  leave  the  main  body 
and  come  away  out  here. ' ' 

"Oh,"  replied  Ogema,  "they  knew  they 
were  away  from  the  river  and  from  every  line 
of  travel,  and  it  was  only  one  chance  in  ten 
thousand  that  we  happened  to  hear  that  ax.  It 
was  a  very  rare  chance,  too,  that  any  of  us  hap 
pened  to  come  down  this  way  and  pass  by  just 
here.  The  beavers  must  be  all  killed  off  in  the 
creeks  near  the  Sioux  villages,  and  this  man  no 
doubt  thought  that  he  would  come  up  here,  where 
they  are  plenty  because  nobody  lives  here,  and 
replenish  his  stock.  The  trader  would  have 
given  him  scarlet  cloth  and  beads  for  them,  and 
a  little  nice  fire-water  on  top  of  all,  just  to  make 
him  feel  real  happy.  He  didn't  do  a  foolish 
thing,  and  didn't  run  any  risk  in  coining  out 


104  THE  OJIBWAY 

here  under  ordinary  circumstances.  But  now  it 
looks  as  if  we  were  to  get  those  beaver-skins,  or 
whatever  he  has,  and  not  that  Sioux  trader. ' ' 

'  *  I  wonder  if  his  relatives  will  ever  know  what 
has  become  of  him,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky. 

"If  he  has  let  them  know  what  place  he  was 
going  to  hunt,  they  will,"  said  Ogema,  "for 
after  awhile,  when  they  don't  return  home, 
scouts  will  be  sent  out  here  to  look  for  them,  and 
they  will  find  their  rotting  carcasses  lying 
around  here  and  they  will  know  what  has  hap 
pened.  But  if  they  did  not  happen  to  tell  where 
they  were  going,  or  did  not  know  themselves, 
their  relatives  will  never  find  them  and  never 
know  what  has  become  of  them. ' ' 

Having  thus  decided  upon  what  they  would 
do,  they  withdrew  to  a  place  beyond  all  danger 
of  being  discovered,  and  where  the  smoke  of 
their  fire  could  not  be  seen,  and  prepared  to 
be  back  before  daylight  on  the  morrow.  They 
made  themselves  beds  of  branches  of  cedar  and 
other  evergreens,  and  reclining  by  the  fire  talked 
of  all  the  experiences  they  had  gone  through 
since  they  left  home,  and  of  those  that  probably 
still  awaited  them  before  they  would  see  Gull 
Lake. 

The  next  morning,  true  to  appointment,  they 
were  in  waiting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lodge  before 
daylight,  and  with  the  first  streak  of  dawn 
raised  their  blood-curdling  yell  and  rushed  in 
among  the  terrified  inmates  of  the  lodge.  They 
had  daylight  enough  to  see  whom  to  kill  and 
whom  to  keep  alive,  and  it  required  only  a  few 
minutes  wielding  of  the  tomahawk,  and  the  deed 


THE  OJIBWAY  105 

was  done.  What  an  hour  before  had  been  a  hap 
py  home,  was  a  reeking  slaughter-house.  The 
daughter  of  the  family,  stunned  by  the  terrible 
and  unexpected  calamity,  yielded  in  a  dazed  sort 
of  way  and  made  no  resistance.  She  was  se 
curely  bound  to  a  tree  and  a  watch  kept  over  her. 
The  scalps  were  then  carefully  taken  and  added 
to  the  store  they  already  had.  The  stores  of  the 
family  in  the  way  of  food,  furs,  and  other  things, 
were  then  inspected,  and  selections  made  of  such 
things  as  were  most  valuable  and  which  they 
could  carry  along.  The  usual  dismemberment 
and  mutilation  of  the  bodies  then  took  place. 
The  last  thing  of  all  was  to  affix  upon  a  tree  a 
writing,  a  history  of  what  had  taken  place.  On 
a  smooth  piece  of  birch-bark  they  drew  a  figure 
of  the  teepee,  the  time  being  indicated  by  the 
sun  just  casting  his  first  rays  upon  the  earth; 
themselves  designated  by  three  rude  figures  of 
men,  with  the  totem  to  which  each  belonged 
drawn  beneath :  a  bear,  a  marten,  and  a  catfish, 
for  to  these  three  they  respectively  be 
longed.  The  place  from  which  they  had  come 
was  shown  by  a  line  leading  up  from  the 
south,  terminating  near  a  place  where  were 
many  figures  with  hats,  the  sign  of  the  white 
man,  and  guns  in  their  hands,  therefore  a  sol 
dier's  fort.  The  number  of  scalps  they  had 
taken  there  was  indicated  by  the  three  which 
hung  one  at  the  belt  of  each,  and  the  number 
they  had  taken  at  the  teepee,  five;  shown 
by  their  holding  them  aloft  in  the  hand.  That 
they  were  freshly  taken  was  shown  by  the  drops 
of  blood  falling  from  them.  The  number  of 


106  THE  OJIBWAY 

captives  taken,  one,  a  woman,  was  indicated  by 
her  woman's  clothes  and  driven  before,  bound 
with  a  rope.  The  direction  in  which  they  were 
going,  the  north,  was  shown  by  the  line  running 
upward  parallel  with  the  great  river.  Having 
affixed  this  record  of  their  prowess  to  the  near 
est  tree  overlooking  the  scene,  and  made  their 
other  preparations,  they  departed,  now  only  anx 
ious  to  reach  their  village. 

The  poor  captive  girl  was  driven  before  them, 
a  stout  rope  made  of  basswood  bark  tied  around 
her  waist.  What  her  feelings  were  in  this  ap 
palling  calamity  of  the  sudden  destruction  of 
her  home,  and  of  all  she  loved,  or  who  had  loved 
her,  as  well  as  of  the  dreadful  uncertainty  that 
hung  over  her  future,  may  be  imagined,  but  can 
not  be  described. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A   DELIRIUM    OF    JOY. 

We  may  pass  over  the  incidents  of  the  journey 
north;  the  days  and  nights  spent  in  the  wilder 
ness  ;  the  rivers  they  forded,  and  the  tangled  un 
derbrush  through  which  they  sometimes  forced 
themselves.  The  girl  was  treated  by  her  captors 
as  kindly  as  they  could,  and  sufficient  food  was 
given  her.  Until  nearly  the  last  of  the  journey 
they  avoided  the  vicinity  of  the  river,  knowing 
that  there  of  all  places,  their  enemies  would  look 
for  them,  and  that  being  in  the  open  they  could 
readily  be  seen.  Their  journey  down  the  river 
had  been  a  pleasure  trip,  but  coming  back  on 
foot  through  the  woods  and  underbrush,  where 
there  was  no  road,  they  found  hard  enough.  At 
last  they  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Gull  Lake 
village,  and  when  discovered  by  its  inhabitants 
were  received  with  a  delirium  of  joy.  At  first 
they  did  not  enter  the  village,  but  camped  just 
outside  it,  in  order  to  make  a  formal  and  impos 
ing  entry.  In  due  time  the  preparations  were 
made.  Each  scalp  was  stretched  on  a  frame 
work,  which  was  tied  to  the  top  of  a  tall  pole, 
where  with  its  long  flowing  hair  it  would  be  a 
conspicuous  object  that  could  be  seen  by  all. 
There  was  thus  first  the  long  procession  of 
scalps,  preceded  by  those  who  had  taken  them, 
whooping  and  dancing.  After  the  scalps  march- 


108  THE  OJIBWAY 

ed  the  captive,  the  object  which  attracted  all 
eyes.  Then  came  the  entire  population  of  the 
village;  men,  women,  and  children. 

Arrived  at  the  place  of  dancing,  the  drummers 
and  chanters  took  their  usual  places  in  the  centre 
around  the  big  drums,  which  made  the  air  throb 
with  every  beat,  awakening  a  responsive  throb 
in  the  hearers '  hearts.  Outside  of  the  drum 
mers  was  the  usual  cleared  space  for  the  danc 
ing,  then  the  men  sitting,  then,  outside  of  all, 
the  women  and  children.  The  scalps  aloft  on 
the  poles  were  waving  over  the  assembly.  After 
a  certain  amount  of  drumming  and  singing  the 
men,  as  usual,  jumped  up  and  danced  with  might 
and  main,  whooping  and  yelling  and  stamping, 
pointing  their  knives  and  tomahawks  in  the  di 
rection  of  the  Sioux  country,  and  killing  and 
scalping  many  imaginary  enemies.  Then  there 
was  silence,  and  one  of  the"  heroes  of  the  occas 
ion  got  up  and  graphically  described  the  killing. 
When  he  mentioned  a  death  the  drums  gave  a 
responsive  tap  as  a  life  went  out.  When  he 
ceased  the  whole  assembly  began  once  more  to 
dance  and  the  drums  to  sound,  in  a  frenzy  of 
delight.  Then  another  member  of  the  expedi 
tion  was  called  on  to  relate  what  happened,  then 
another  dance,  until  all  had  given  their  expe 
rience.  Then  the  judgment,  the  courage,  and 
the  endurance  of  the  conquering  heroes  were 
lauded  by  all.  Now  the  Sioux  girl  was  led  into 
the  ring  for  all  to  see.  The  little  children  were 
encouraged  by  their  mothers  to  touch  her,  which 
they  sometimes,  after  many  attempts,  fearfully 
did,  and  then  drew  back  to  their  mothers  in  a 


THE  OJIBWAY  109 

sudden  access  of  terror.  Here  was  one  of  the 
Boasters,  about  whom  they  had  heard  all  their 
liyes;  a  live  one,  and  they  actually  touched  her 
and  yet  lived!  A  call  was  now  made  for  her 
to  dance ;  but  with  the  scalps  of  her  father  and 
mother  and  all  her  family  before  her,  she  had  no 
mind  to  dance.  Oh  how  unutterably  sad  she 
looked !  But  dance  she  must,  and  slapping  her 
across  the  face  with  her  father 's  scalp  she  was 
told  to  dance.  She  understood  it  was  dance 
or  die.  The  love  of  life  is  strong,  so  she  danced. 
Such  were  the  scenes  repeated  day  after  day, 
while  the  village  was  in  a  tumult  of  joy.  The 
news  spread  north  to  Leech  Lake  and  to  Mille 
Lacs,  and  crowds  from  those  places  came  to 
see. 

There  still  remained  a  very  important  ques 
tion  to  be  decided.  What  was  to  be  done  with 
the  captive?  It  was  evident  that  the  present 
arrangement  was  only  temporary.  She  was 
kindly  treated,  but  was  watched  night  and  day  to 
see  that  she  did  not  escape.  They  were  think 
ing  about  what  was  to  be  done  with  her,  but  only 
a  council  could  decide  it.  It  was  a  matter  the 
responsibility  for  which  rested  upon  all,  for  hav 
ing  become  a  captive  she  belonged  to  the  whole 
band.  A  day  was  therefore  named  for  the  coun 
cil.  It  was  named  some  time  ahead,  because 
gravity  and  deliberateness  characterize  all  their 
decisions  of  a  public  character,  and  giving  time 
in  advance  allowed  the  matter  to  ripen  in  their 
own  minds. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

WILL  IT  BE  LIFE  OE  DEATH? 

When  the  appointed  day  came  there  was  first 
the  usual  drumming  and  chanting,  but  there  was 
along  with  it  hard  thinking.  The  drumming  and 
dancing  seem  to  arouse  and  stimulate  their 
mental  processes,  for  they  invariably  precede 
and  accompany  the  discussion  and  decision  of 
any  important  matter.  First  one  old  Chief  ad 
dressed  them : 

"My  friends,  you  know  what  we  have  assem 
bled  here  for.  We  are  indeed  very  blessed  in 
having  one  of  the  Boasters  a  captive.  Our  boys 
have  done  nobly  in  going  down  there  right  into 
their  village  and  killing  a  good  many ;  and  what 
is  better,  they  have  brought  one  alive.  We  are 
indeed  blessed.  Now  do  not  be  backward,  but  say 
what  you  think  should  be  done  with  this  Sioux 
woman."  Cries  of  assent  followed  from  the 
spectators,  then  another  burst  of  drumming  and 
singing,  followed  by  dancing.  But  no  one  rose 
to  speak;  all  were  thinking  intently.  The  old 
man  rose  again.  "  You  all  seem  backward  about 
speaking,  my  friends,  though  no  doubt  you  all 
think  something  about  this  matter.  So  I  will 
name  one  to  speak.  We  hear  that  Shay-shay- 
way-ge-zhik  (Sky  -  that -keeps  -  rattling)  has 
thought  of  marrying  this  young  woman,  so  I  call 
on  him  to  tell  us  what  he  thinks. " 


THE  OJIBWAY  111 

The  young  man  named  arose,  and  as  he  was  a 
hunter  and  warrior,  with  no  pretentious  to  being 
a  speaker,  briefly  told  his  mind. 

'  '  Well, ' '  he  said, '  '  I  thought  it  would  be  amus 
ing  to  marry  this  girl,  because  she  does  not 
know  a  word  of  my  language  nor  I  of  hers,  and 
I  thought  it  would  be  funny.  It  would  be  a 
new  sensation:  To  court  a  girl  who  did  not 
understand  a  word  I  said  nor  I  a  word  she  said. 
I  suppose  I  could  get  an  Ojibway  girl  if  I 
wanted,  but  this  would  be  something  out  of  the 
usual  course.  Some  think  that  she  would  soon 
run  away,  and  perhaps  take  my  child  with  her, 
but  I  do  not  think  so.  For  one  reason,  her 
whole  family  has  been  killed,  so  she  has  no 
one  to  go  to;  but  my  principal  reason  is  that 
I  think  I  could  soon  make  her  like  me  so  that 
she  would  not  wish  to  go  away.  That  is  all  I 
have  to  say." 

Again  there  was  the  usual  outburst  of  drum 
ming,  singing,  and  dancing,  and  when  it  ceased 
Sha-bosh-kunk  got  up  to  speak. 

"Indeed,  my  friends, "  he  said,  "this  is  a  very 
important  thing  we  have  met  to  consider.  The 
Great  Spirit  it  seems  smiles  upon  us  and  has 
given  this  woman  into  our  hands,  and  we  are  to 
decide  what  to  do  with  her.  Sky-that-keeps-rat 
tling  has  told  us  what  he  thinks.  Well,  I  am  a 
generous  man,  and  if  it  be  your  decision  to  dis 
pose  of  her  in  that  way  I  am  willing  to  take  her 
into  my  wigwam  and  marry  her;  and  I  know  I 
am  such  a  hunter  that  she  would  never  lack  any 
thing  with  me."  Here  he  stopped  and  looked 
around  with  a  bland  smile  upon  the  audience, 


112  THE  OJIBWAY 

first  to  reap  the  tribute  of  admiration  he  ex 
pected  to  see  in  their  faces  to  his  generosity  in 
offering  to  provide  for  the  poor  orphan ;  as  well 
as  to  his  being  such  a  good  hunter;  but  princi 
pally  to  test  the  effect  of  this  proposition  upon 
them;  but  saw  by  their  looks  that  it  would  not 
be  favorably  received.  They  knew  he  already 
had  one  wife,  that  his  past  matrimonial  affairs 
had  been  mixed ;  and  he  read  in  their  faces  that 
if  that  method  of  disposing  of  her  was  adopted, 
Sky-that-keeps-rattling,  who  was  a  young  man, 
and  much  more  popular  than  he,  would  be 
given  the  preference.  Seeing,  therefore,  that 
there  was  no  hope  of  getting  the  girl  for  him 
self  as  he  wished,  he  proceeded  to  develop  the 
plan  which  suited  him  next  best  "But  my 
friends, "  he  proceeded  to  say  after  this  pause, 
"I  am  a  very  merciful  man,  and  wish  that  all 
may  share  in  this  blessing  that  has  come  to  us, 
and  get  some  benefit  from  it.  If  Sky-that- 
keeps-rattling  marries  this  girl,  or  if  I  do, 
then  we  get  the  benefit  and  you  get  nothing. 
Now  I  have  a  very  kind  feeling  toward  those 
who  are  weak  among  us,  and  not  able  to  get 
things  for  themselves;  toward  the  women  and 
children.  As  for  us  men,  we  are  brave  and  pow 
erful  and  can  go  to  war  and  get  things  for  our 
selves,  but  the  women  and  children  cannot.  Now 
I  have  a  very  tender  feeling  toward  the  weak  and 
the  lowly,  toward  our  women  and  children,  and 
I  propose  that  instead  of  one  getting  all  of  this 
captive  and  the  rest  getting  nothing,  that  we  all 
feel  the  benefit  of  her,  and  in  what  I  say  I  plead 
particularly  for  the  women  and  children  as  their 


THE  OJIBWAY  113 

representative.  I  propose  therefore  that  we  do 
as  our  fathers  did,  and  do  as  they  have  done  to 
us— that  we  boil  and  eat  this  captive,  and  then 
we  will  all  share  in  the  benefit  of  her.  Now,  my 
friends,  I  say  this  out  of  my  compassion  for 
the  women  and  children.  We  know  our  children 
do  not  all  live  to  grow  up.  We  know  that  al 
though  our  Medicine-men  try  to  keep  them  alive, 
yet  that  some  of  them  die.  And  ought  it  not  to 
be  so,  0,  may  it  be  so,  that  once  at  least  in 
their  lives  before  they  pass  out  of  life  they  may 
taste  the  flesh  of  our  enemies,  so  that  they  will 
be  able  to  say  they  have  done  so,  even  though  it 
were  but  a  bite!  Now  look  at  it  in  this  way; 
there  may  be  ever  so  much  wealth,  and  if  we 
merely  look  at  wealth,  what  good  does  it  do  us? 
It  does  us  no  good  at  all,  my  friends;  not  the 
least.  But  if  we  take  and  use  of  some  of  the 
wealth,  then  it  does  us  good,  and  not  till  then. 
So  I  say,  my  friends,  and  I  speak  particularly 
for  the  women  and  children,  who  otherwise  will 
be  deprived  of  all  advantage— I  say  let  us 
appoint  a  day,  and  let  us  have  a  big  time ;  and 
let  us  put  this  captive  in  the  pot  and  eat  her,  and 
then  we  shall  all  have  the  benefit  of  her." 

A  roll  of  the  drums  and  an  outburst  of  sing 
ing  followed  this  speech,  precluding  for  the  pres 
ent  the  possibility  of  knowing  just  how  it  would 
be  received.  There  were  then  some  desultory  re 
marks  made  by  some  old  men,  on  both  proposi 
tions,  but  nothing  very  decided  was  elicited, 
when  something  new  and  very  unexpected  oc 
curred.  A  woman,  Misquabunoque  (Red-Sky- 
of-the-Morning),  the  daughter  of  the  principal 


114  THE  OJIBWAY 

chief,  arose  and  asked  that  the  captive  be  given 
to  her.  At  this  there  was  very  general  surprise 
expressed.  The  old  men  could  not  remember 
any  such  request  ever  having  been  made  by  a 
woman.  It  was  without  precedent,  and  therefore 
perhaps  should  be  ignored.  Still,  curiosity  im 
pelled  them  to  wish  to  know  the  grounds  upon 
which  such  an  unusual  request  was  preferred, 
and  as  they  had  nothing  else  very  pressing  to 
do,  and  were  willing  to  be  amused,  and  were  also 
desirous  of  having  light  from  any  quarter  to 
help  them  to  a  proper  decision,  the  majority 
thought  it  was  better  to  hear  from  her  the  rea 
sons  which  induced  her  to  make  such  an  unpre 
cedented  request.  Having  thus  been  given  per 
mission  to  state  her  reasons,  she  proceeded  to  ad 
dress  them : 

1 1  Since  you  give  me  permission,  my  chiefs,  to 
tell  you  my  reasons  for  asking  that  this  captive 
be  given  to  me,  I  shall  do  so.  I  ask,  as  a  repre 
sentative  of  all  the  women,  that  this  captive,  a 
woman,  be  given  to  me.  Probably  you  think 
this  very  strange.  But  consider  this :  We  wom 
en  do  a  very  great  deal  of  hard  work  for  you 
men,  and  if  we  make  a  small  request,  is  it  to  be 
denied  us?  Is  that  then  all  that  we  are  for  in 
this  world ;  hard  drudging  and  to  be  beaten,  and 
when  we  ask  anything  for  it  to  be  denied  us! 
Now  consider  this :  Last  fall  I  was  out  at  the 
rice-gathering  lake  with  all  of  you,  where  we 
make  the  rice  which  is  a  considerable  part  of  our 
living.  What  did  I  see  there?  I  saw  all  our 
women  in  the  canoes  beating  off  the  wild  rice 
and  working  hard  all  day  long.  And  did  I  see 


THE  OJIBWAY  115 

any  men  helping  them?  No;  the  men  were  all 
lying  on  the  grass  on  the  bank  of  the  lake  en 
gaged  in  gambling,  so  much  absorbed  in  the 
game  that  they  complained  they  were  hungry. 
Although  the  ducks  were  flying  thickly  over  their 
heads  they  could  not  tear  themselves  from  the 
game  long  enough  to  rise  and  shoot  them.  Now  I 
am  not  saying  anything  against  gambling.  There 
has  always  been  gambling  and  I  suppose  there 
always  will  be.  I  suppose  if  it  were  not  right 
that  there  should  be  gambling  there  would 
not  be  any.  But  I  say  this:  i Gambling 
does  not  put  any  clothes  on  the  children's 
backs,  nor  does  it  provide  the  food  we  cannot  live 
without.  Who  is  it  that  made  that  wild  rice  that 
is  in  your  wigwam  and  that  you  find  very  good  1 
Women,  every  bit  of  it.  And  very  likely  there 
are  some  corn  and  potatoes  in  your  wigwam. 
Who  raised  them!  Women,  all  of  them.  Who 
ever  saw  a  man  hoeing  corn  or  potatoes?  I  nev 
er  did.  And  there  is  another  thing  that  is  a 
principal  part  of  our  living;  fish.  Who  gets  up 
in  the  morning  and  takes  the  paddle,  gets  into 
the  canoe  and  draws  the  nets,  no  matter  how 
stormy  it  is,  and  even  though  the  water  be 
ice  cold,  and  brings  back  the  food  for  the  family! 
Did  any  one  ever  hear  of  a  man  having  anything 
to  do  with  nets  ?  I  never  did.  So  it  seems  that 
the  one  who  is  looked  down  upon,  and  the  one 
who  is  weak,  and  who  is  generally  beaten  and 
abused,  is  the  one  who  makes  the  living,  nearly 
all  of  it,  for  the  men  and  for  the  children. 

"I  sometimes  think  that  you  men M— here  she 
raised  her  voice,  gaining  confidence  as  she  pro- 


116  THE  OJIBWAY 

ceeded — "would  starve  if  it  were  not  for  us 
women,  as  I  am  sure  the  children  would.  You 
have  a  good  time,  gambling  much  of  the  time, 
and  singing  and  dancing,  and  going  off  and 
visiting  other  bands  of  0  jib  ways, —but  I  no 
tice  that  the  women  are  always  at  work. 
Always  doing  something  to  make  a  living  for  the 
family.  The  only  thing  that  you  men  do  toward 
making  a  living  for  the  family,  that  I  can  see,  is 
to  take  your  guns  sometimes  and  kill  an  animal, 
and  then  you  do  not  carry  it  home;  you  walk 
home  with  your  gun,  and  the  woman  has  to  be 
sent  with  her  packing  strap  to  pack  that  meat 
home  a  long  distance,  till  her  back  is  almost 
broken.  So  it  appears  that  the  poor  woman  is 
made  a  slave  of  from  beginning  to  end.  You 
think  you  do  a  great  deal  because  you  shoot  the 
animals  down.  But  I  think  that  is  play  rather 
than  work,  and  I  am  sure  our  women  could  do 
it  just  as  well  if  they  were  given  the  opportunity. 
I  know  some  of  them  can  hunt  ducks  just  as  suc 
cessfully  as  you  men. 

1  i  And  there  you  can  see  us  women,  every  aft 
ernoon,  going  out  into  the  woods  and  chopping 
wood,  and  packing  it  home  on  our  backs,  to  keep 
you  men  warm,  sitting  cozy  in  there,  doing  noth 
ing.  And  we  have  all  the  care  of  the  children 
and  the  labor  of  the  wigwam.  If  any  of  the  chil 
dren  are  sick  in  the  night,  who  is  it  but  the 
woman,  who  is  broken  of  her  rest,  caring  for  it! 
And  for  all  that  she  does,  all  her  packing  wood 
on  her  back,  and  all  her  hard  work  making 
maple  sugar— carrying  birch-bark  sap  buckets, 
wet  up  to  her  knees,  night  and  day  for  weeks, 


THE  OJIBWAY  117 

and  hardly  sleeping,  while  the  men  are  off  some 
where  having  a  good  time— her  reward  for  all 
that,  and  for  supporting  the  family  as  she  does, 
is  that  when  there  is  a  dispute,  take  a  stick  of 
wood  or  the  ax-helve  and  strike  her  over  the 
skull  and  cut  her  to  the  bone,  till  the  blood  runs 
over  her  face.  That  is  what  the  man  generally 
does  as  you  all  know ;  and  that  is  the  reward  she 
gets.  And  now  when  a  woman  makes  a  small 
request,  as  I  do,  that  this  captive  girl  be  given 
to  me,  a  woman,  a  representative  of  the  women, 
we  shall  see  what  answer  will  be  given  and  what 
thanks  the  woman  gets. ' ' 

This  speech  created  quite  a  sensation  among 
the  company,  men  as  well  as  women.  Some  of 
the  former  it  rather  angered,  while  the  latter 
it  pleased  as  being  a  true  presentation  of  their 
case.  The  men  conferred  among  themselves  a 
little  while,  then  one  of  them  arose  and  asked 
to  be  informed  what  Eed-sky-of-the-morning  in 
tended  to  do  with  the  captive  if  she  should  be 
granted  to  her.  He  said  it  would  make  a  differ 
ence  in  their  decision  whether  she  intended  to 
let  her  go  or  intended  to  do  something  else  to 
her.  To  this  Red-sky-of-the-morning  replied 
that ' '  She  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  say  what 
she  would  do  with  her ;  that  she  had  stated  the 
reasons  for  her  request  as  well  as  she  could,  and 
had  no  promises  to  make.  If  the  woman  was 
given  to  her,  she  was  given  to  her. ' ' 

There  was  now  long  consultation  among  the 
men  as  to  which  of  the  three  things  proposed 
should  be  done,  or  whether  something  different 
from  all  should  be  done.  They  all  agreed 


118  THE  OJIBWAY 

that  to  give  her  to  the  young  brave  would  bene 
fit  him  alone,  and  they  did  not  feel  like  giving 
her  to  Sha-bosh-kunk  for  an  additional  wife,  and 
they  were  not  quite  ready  to  put  her  into  the  pot. 
Red-sky-of-the-morning  was  the  daughter  of  a 
chief,  something  must  be  conceded  to  that.  Her 
proposal,  though  startling,  had  the  charm  of 
novelty.  They  felt  that  the  women,  who  they 
realized  did  so  much  for  them  and  received  so 
little,  had  a  claim.  They  resolved,  therefore,  to 
give  the  woman  to  Red-sky-of-the-morning  and 
see  what  would  come  of  it. 

Red-sky-of-the-morning  was  formally  called, 
the  decision  of  the  assembly  announced  to  her, 
and  the  Sioux  girl  turned  over  to  her.  She 
thanked  them  briefly  for  what  they  had  done, 
then  led  the  trembling  girl  to  her  own  lodge. 
There  she  prepared  a  good  meal,  set  it  before 
her,  and  told  her  to  eat,  observing  to  her  that 
"it  was  probably  the  last  time  she  would  ever 
eat  in  this  world.'* 

After  the  meal  was  over  she  delayed  for  some 
little  time,  as  if  half  reluctant  to  begin  some 
thing,  or  as  if  she  had  not  fully  made  up  her 
mind.  Then  at  last  she  took  her  by  the  hand 
and  led  her  out  into  a  lonely  place  in  the  forest. 

There  was  quite  a  contrast  in  the  personal  ap 
pearance  of  these  two.  Red-sky-of-the-morning 
was  tall  and  of  a  commanding  and  intellectual 
presence.  Her  long,  black,  straight  hair  was  di 
vided  in  the  middle  and  hung  down  her  back  in 
two  long  braids  nearly  to  her  waist.  Her  eyes 
were  large  and  black,  her  complexion  sallow, 
and  her  face  angular.  Thought  and  intellect, 


THE  OJIBWAY  119 

\ 

rather  than  beauty,  were  stamped  there.  Her 
figure  also  was  angular  and  thin.  The  Sioux 
girl,  on  the  contrary,  was  short  in  stature,  and 
small,  but  symmetrical  in  her  proportions  and  in 
all  the  lines  of  her  face.  She  was  comely  rather 
than  beautiful.  Her  complexion  was  a  rich  olive, 
with  a  tinge  of  red  in  the  cheeks.  Her  'abundant 
black  hair  came  down  somewhat  near  her  eye 
brows,  displaying  a  low  though  wide  forehead. 
Her  face  was  short  and  oval,  her  nose  straight 
and  classical,  and  came  down  somewhat  far— but 
not  too  far— over  her  short  upper  lip.  Her 
cheeks  full  and  rounded.  Her  eyes  were  neither 
large  nor  small.  Her  short  face  corresponded  to 
her  somewhat  short  but  plump  body,  and  its  out 
lines  were  rounded  and  soft,  as  was  her  figure. 
She  had  the  appearance  of  innocence,  natural 
ness,  and  sweetness,  rather  than  of  intellectu 
ality.  She  looked  a  fresh  sweet  prairie  flower  of 
nature;  not  like  the  woman  who  led  her,  of  ex 
ceptional  or  striking  powers.  Meekness  and  sub- 
missiveness  seemed  natural  to  her.  As  she  did 
not  understand  the  language  of  her  captors  she 
did  not  know  what  had  been  decreed  about  her, 
and  could  only  dimly  guess  from  actions.  How 
ever,  she  knew  enough  of  the  customs  of  the  peo 
ple  to  make  out  that  her  fate  hovered  between 
death  and  matrimony;  death  in  one  of  many 
forms,  or  being  led  unasked  to  the  wigwam  of 
some  hunter.  She  knew  of  roasting  of  prison 
ers  ;  she  knew  of  making  them  run  the  gauntlet ; 
she  knew  of  various  ways  of  disposing  of  them. 
With  apprehension,  therefore,  she  followed,  not 
knowing  what  was  going  to  be  done  with  her. 


120  THE  OJIBWAY 

Her  owner  preceded  her  with  a  moody,  unhap 
py  expression  upon  her  face,  leading  her  along 
until  they  came  to  a  deep  recess  of  the  wood, 
where  a  rock  protruded  from  the  soil.  When 
they  reached  this  point  she  stopped,  looked  at 
her  captive  for  some  time  in  silence,  then  taking 
out  her  large  knife  began  whetting  it  upon  the 
rock.  It  was  a  large,  broad-bladed,  single-edged 
knife,  such  as  both  men  and  women  usually  car 
ried  to  aid  them  in  their  daily  tasks,  as  for  cut 
ting  down  saplings,  skinning  animals,  and  per 
forming  many  such  acts.  At  the  sight  of  that 
cruel  knife  and  its  contact  with  the  rock,  some 
thing  like  an  electric  shock  passed  through  the 
frame  of  the  poor  captive  girl.  It  seemed  to 
start  in  the  median  line  of  her  body  and  thence 
tingled  to  all  her  extremities.  Her  eyes  seemed 
to  see  stars,  and  then  for  an  instant  she  saw 
again  her  happy  home,  and  saw  distinctly  her 
little  brothers  and  sisters  playing  around;  her 
mother  and  father,  and  the  furnishing  of  the 
teepee,  inside  and  outside — everything  as  it  had 
been.  It  all  rose  before  her  in  a  flash,  and  it  was 
a  distinct  and  clear  vision.  Then  it  faded,  and 
she  was  alone  with  the  woman  whetting  her 
knife  upon  the  rock.  Before  she  had  time  to 
think,  she  had  instinctively  turned  to  her,  and 
putting  her  hands  upon  her  two  arms  and  look 
ing  her  eagerly  in  the  eyes,  said  in  an  appalling 
tone, ' l  My  sister  let  me  go ! " 

The  words  were  in  Dakota  and  so  were  not  un 
derstood  by  the  Ojibway,  but  there  was  np  mis 
taking  that  appealing  glance,  that  eager  look 
toward  the  south  where  her  happy  home  used  to 


THE  OJIBWAY  121 

be.  It  was  perfectly  understood  by  the  woman, 
for  that  girl's  eager  soul  seemed  to  pass  into 
hers.  It  made  her  stop  her  whetting  and  look 
up;  it  made  her  think  what  she  was  going  to  do, 
or  not  to  do;  it  brought  matters  to  a  crisis 
in  her  own  mind  for  though  before  the  captive 
was  decreed  to  her  she  had  not  had  a  shade  of 
doubt  as  to  what  to  do,  yet  with  the  sole  respon 
sibility  had  come  a  doubt,  a  reluctance  to  begin, 
a  half -shrinking  from  the  deed.  Her  agitation 
surprised  even  herself,  and  partly  to  put  the  de 
cision  off  a  while,  till  her  mind  was  clearer  on 
the  subject,  and  partly  that  she  might  make  the 
right  thing  to  be  done  more  clear  to  herself  by 
stating  it  in  words,  and  by  marshaling  the  rea 
sons  pro  and  con,  on  the  one  side  and  on  the 
other,  find  out  which  scale  weighed  down,  and 
consequently  which  ought  to  be  done,  she  an 
swered  in  words  the  appeal  her  sister  had  made 
to  her. 

"You  ask  me,  you  poor  thing,  to  let  you  go 
back  to  your  people.  You  point  to  the  south 
where  they  live.  Now  why  should  I  do  that,  and 
why  should  I  not  do  what  I  led  you  out  here  for? 
I  came  out  here,  and  brought  you  out,  to  use  my 
right  over  you  as  mine,  given  to  me;  and  now 
you  ask  me  to  let  you  go.  You  ask  me  to  throw 
away  the  great  privilege  I  have  gained  by  my 
appeal  to  the  chiefs.  I,  who  am  a  chief's  daugh 
ter,  and  to  whom  alone  of  all  the  women  this 
great  privilege  has  been  given.  To  throw  away 
and  let  escape  from  my  hands  the  fruits  of  my 
effort,  which  I  made  with  all  the  powers  of  my 
soul.  I,  who  had  the  boldness  to  do  that  which  is 


122  THE  OJIBWAY 

very  rarely  done,  which  perhaps  we  have  seldom 
heard  of  being  done— a  woman  to  stand  up  in 
council  and  demand  of  the  men  the  most  precious 
thing  they  had— a  captive,  gained,  too,  by  men. 
The  prize  gained  by  their  toil ;  their  efforts ;  their 
long,  weary  marches ;  their  putting  their  lives  in 
jeopardy. 

"And  so  you  ask  me  to  let  you  go.  Well,  sup 
posing  I  do,  what  then!  You  could  find  your 
way  back,  I  suppose,  to  where  your  wigwam 
stood,  although  there  is  no  road,  no  path— just 
through  the  dense  forest.  But  I  know  you  could 
find  your  way  there,  the  very  way  you  came,  be 
cause  you  are  an  Indian,  and  an  Indian  never 
forgets  the  way  he  has  been  over  once.  We  have 
heard  of  our  French  traders  doing  that  and  get 
ting  lost,  but  never  of  an  Indian,  nor  would  you. 
It  is  a  great  many  days'  travel  there,  as  you 
know,  and  you  all  alone.  Poor  little  thing,  how 
lonesome  you  would  be,  making  your  camp  all 
alone  every  night  and  traveling  alone  all  day. 
And  then  you  know  the  thorny  brush  you  would 
have  to  force  your  way  through— you  found  that 
out  coming  here.  And  your  clothes  would  all  be 
torn  off  you,  as  they  were  when  you  came  here ; 
and  your  skin  would  be  torn  and  bloody.  You 
know  we  had  to  give  you  clothes  when  you  came 
here,  because  you  were  nearly  naked;  but  who 
will  give  you  clothes  where  you  are  going?  You 
will  not  meet  a  soul  for  ever  so  many  days,  not 
till  you  get  to  your  people.  Oh,  you  poor  girl, 
I  feel  sorry  for  you  whichever  destiny  is  yours, 
for  I  see  you  are  going  to  have  such  a  hard 
time!  That  is  a  part  of  our  father's 


THE  OJIBWAY  123 

instructions  or  preaching  to  us.  I  don't 
know  if  you  Sioux  have  the  same  thing,  but  in 
in  the  instructions  they  give  to  all  young  people, 
before  entering  in  earnest  on  life  they  say,  of 
this  life,  'Sassagang  kid  ija  gaye  kawin-ki  da- 
wimashkanzin. '  'You  are  going  into  the  thick 
thorny  brush,  and  you  cannot  get  around  it.' 
You  poor  little  thing;  you  are  going  into  the 
thick  thorny  brush,  whichever  way  you  take; 
whether  I  let  you  go  as  you  ask,  or  whether  I 
kill  you  here !  You  had  almost  better  die  any 
way,  than  go  through  all  that  is  before  you  if  I 
let  you  go." 

"And  then  how  would  you  find  food?  The 
men  fed  you  when  you  were  coming  here,  for 
they  had  guns  and  shot  game;  but  you  have 
none.  So  you  would  be  starving.  You  would 
be  trying  to  find  the  pods  of  last  year's  roses  on 
the  rose  bushes,  for  that  is  what  the  Indians  try 
to  keep  themselves  alive  with  when  they  are 
starving.  But  you  would  find  them  becoming 
clogged  on  your  stomach  and  you  would  be 
greatly  distressed  just  when  you  would  have  to 
walk  the  very  best  to  get  to  those  Sioux!  Per 
haps,  being  young  and  inexperienced,  you  would 
not  be  able  to  find  those  rose-pods,  or  not  enough 
of  them,  and  would  starve  to  death,  or  you  would 
be  so  distressed  with  your  stomach  that  you 
would  sicken  and  die  alone  there  in  the  woods, 
and  your  body  never  be  found !  You  would  just 
rot  away  there  on  the  moss  where  you  had  lain 
down,  or  the  wolves  would  come  and  eat  you ! 

"Oh  you  poor,  unhappy  young  girl,  what  a 
position  you  are  in !  Then  how  many  rivers  do 


124  THE  OJIBWAY 

you  have  to  cross  and  get  into  the  cold  water, 
still  cold  from  the  ice,  and  swim  to  the  other 
side,  then  start  on  and  walk,  wringing  wet  all 
over.  Then,  unless  I  should  give  you  a  flint  and 
steel,  you  would  not  have  any  fire,  night  or  day, 
till  you  got  there.  Think  of  your  sleeping  in 
your  wet  clothes  without  a  fire ! 

"Now,  first  of  all  you  would  come  to  your 
own  wigwam,  where  the  men  found  you,  and 
what  a  sight!  There  lie  the  bodies  of  your 
father  and  mother,  all  gashed  and  cut  to  pieces 
as  the  men  left  them;  half-rotten  and  decaying 
by  this  time,  if  the  wolves  have  not  eaten  them. 
Perhaps  you  would  see  only  hones  gnawed  clean. 
Oh,  your  brain  would  reel,  and  you  would  be 
come  a  wild,  mad  woman  of  the  woods  in  the 
dreadful  lonesomeness  of  that  place  and  the 
sights  you  would  see  there !  And  there  are  your 
little  brothers  and  sisters,  whom  you  used  to 
play  with  a  few  days  ago— their  brains  are  lying 
scattered  about  under  the  trees!  I  heard 
Ogema  telling  that  he  took  them  by  the  feet  and 
swung  them  around  his  head,  and  dashed  out 
their  brains  against  the  trees!  Alas,  you  poor 
girl!  You  have  no  father  nor  mother  to  weep 
over  you  nor  lament  for  you.  I  must  be  your 
mother,  and  weep  over  you  whether  you  live  or 
die." 

Here  Eed-Sky-of-the-Morning  enfolded  her 
young  sister  in  her  arms  and  kissed  her  again 
and  again,  covering  her  with  kisses ;  then  lifted 
up  her  voice  and  wept  over  her,  still  holding  her 
in  her  arms;  weeping  over  her  loudly  and  bit 
terly.  Her  tears  really  fell  in  streams  upon  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  125 

Sioux  girl 's  head,  and  ran  down  over  her  cheeks. 
In  feeling,  she  had  indeed  entered  into  the  place 
of  the  poor  girl's  mother,  and  that  mother  could 
not  have  had  a  more  vivid  realization  of  her 
daughter's  sad  condition  than  she  had.  It  was 
a  custom  with  the  Sioux  in  the  early  days  to 
weep  loudly  and  bitterly  over  captives,  and  be 
moan  them,  entering  in  thought  and  feeling  into 
their  unhappy  situation. 

Red-Sky-of-the-Morning  kept  this  up  for  some 
time,  until  she  had  performed  this  pious  duty, 
and  lightened  the  grief  of  her  own  heart  by  this 
copious  effusion;  and  the  receptacles  within 
were  less  strained  when  they  had  overflowed  in 
this  vent  of  tears.  Then  she  resumed  her  medi 
tation,  exploring  by  her  words  the  course  of 
events  if  either  way  were  taken. 

"Supposing  then,"  she  said,  "that  you  should 
at  last  surmount  all  these  dangers  and  live 
through  the  lonesomeness  of  the  great  forest, 
and  the  sights  you  must  see,  and  arrive  at  the 
Indians  of  your  village.  "What  then?  No 
home  for  you  to  go  to,  for  you  have  a  home 
no  longer  on  earth!  There  will  be  but  one 
thing  then  for  you  to  do;  some  man  will  take 
you  into  his  wigwam,  for  you  have  no 
father  nor  mother.  Perhaps  he  has  one  wife 
already,  perhaps  two.  What  then  will  your  life 
be?  Oh,  I  know  the  ways  of  those  Sioux;  their 
ways  are  all  hard  and  cruel !  Our  Ojibway  men 
have  cruel  ways,  but  yours  are  more  so.  I  know 
it,  for  our  men  have  watched  and  seen  just  how 
they  do,  when  they  have  been  lying  in  wait  at 
some  Sioux  village  waiting  to  kill  some  of  them ; 


126  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  they  have  seen  their  housekeeping  and  all 
their  ways,  and  have  come  back  here  and  told 
us  all  about  it.  You  will  be  sent  out  to  pack 
meat  that  the  men  have  killed  but  which  they  will 
not  carry  home;  and  there  you  will  be  with  a 
packing-strap  around  your  forehead  and  a 
weight  of  meat  upon  your  back  enough  to  crush 
you.  And  when  you  sink  under  the  weight  ex 
hausted,  the  man  who  calls  himself  your  husband 
will  come  up  and  grievously  beat  you,  and  tell 
you  to  get  up  and  go  on.  And  he  will  not  think 
it  any  harm  to  beat  you  and  even  to  kill  you, 
because  you  are  only  a  woman,  and  you  belong 
to  him.  And  you  won't  have  any  one  to  fake 
your  part,  for  you  are  only  a  poor  orphan.  Only 
some  poor  woman  as  badly  off  as  yourself  will 
sympathize  with  you,  and  what  can  she  do  to 
help  you,  because  she  is  as  badly  off  herself. 
And  very  likely  the  women  into  whose  wigwam 
you  go  will  hate  you,  and  abuse  you,  and  look  on 
you  as  an  intruder  who  has  come  to  take  from 
them  their  husband.  Oh,  when  that  day  comes 
you  will  wish  your  life  had  been  ended  here ! 

"And  there  comes  in  the  thing  that  I  can  not 
bear  to  think  of,  and  that  is  that  if  that  course  is 
taken  I  have  lost  you  for  time  and  for  eternity. 
You  will  be  no  more  to  me  then  nor  I  to  you  than 
any  other  Sioux  woman,  in  this  world  or  in  the 
next.  I  had  you  once  and  I  let  you  go  out  of  my 
hand,  and  I  have  no  further  claim  on  you.  But 
if  I  kill  you  here,  as  I  came  out  to  do,  then  you 
belong  to  no  one  else,  but  are  mine  throughout 
eternity.  Is  not  that  what  our  men  go  to  war 
for,  among  other  things,  and  endure  every  hard- 


THE  OJIBWAY  127 

ship— starvation,  fatigue,  cold;  marching  for 
days  and  weeks  with  sometimes  hardly  anything 
to  eat,  and  oftentimes  lay  down  their  lives,  and 
what  for?  Because  they  believe  that  the  souls 
of  those  they  slay  in  battle,  or  take  captive  in 
war  and  put  to  death  at  home,  will  be  their  slaves 
in  the  next  life,  to  wait  on  them  and  do  every 
thing  for  them.  So,  I  love  you  so  my  sister  that 
I  cannot  bear  the  thought  of  an  eternal  separa 
tion,  and  that  in  the  next  world  you  should  be 
nothing  to  me !  That  I  should  look  at  you,  the 
second  or  third  wife  of  some  Sioux  man,  but 
nothing  to  me !  Once  I  had  you,  but  I  lost  you ! 
Lost  you  by  my  own  default. 

' '  I  feel  two  souls  struggling  within  me,  one  of 
which  says  let  her  go  home  to  her  people;  but 
when  I  feel  inclined  to  do  that,  then  comes  the 
other  thought.  Do  you  not  love  her  and  wish  to 
be  with  her  in  the  next  life?  And  if  you  let  her 
go  you  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  her  here  or 
hereafter.  Oh,  I  love  you  too  well  for  that;  so 
hear  what  I  think  had  best  be  done.  I  shall  kill 
you  that  I  may  not  lose  you ;  but  while  I  do  it,  I 
love  you.  I  shall  not  haggle  your  pretty  cheeks, 
I  shall  not  mangle  you  as  the  Indians  do,  for  I 
love  you.  I  love  your  beauty,  your  softness, 
your  rounded  form  and  face,  and  I  shall  not  mar 
them.  This  is  what  I  shall  do.  I  shall  cut  in 
over  your  heart,  but  gently,  gently.  I  shall  not 
gash  you,  but  gently  press  the  edge  in,  in  one 
line  parallel  with  another.  I  shall  see  your 
beating  heart,  and  shall  watch  your  fading  eye, 
but  will  love  you  as  a  sister.  It  will  only  be  a 


128  THE  OJIBWAY 

short  separation,  and  then  we  shall  be  together 
forever.  Shall  we  not,  darling? " 

Here  she  enfolded  the  girl  once  more  in  her 
arms,  and  affectionately  kissed  her  again  and 
again.  "We  shall  love  each  other.  I  shall  not 
treat  you  as  my  slave,  but  as  my  dear  sister.  You 
will  be  glad  then  that  you  do  not  belong  to  some 
cruel  Sioux  man,  but  to  me.  I  am  not  one  of 
those  shilly-shallying  women,  soft  and  weak, 
who  keep  changing  their  minds,  who  think  one 
thing  to-day  and  another  to-morrow.  When  I 
have  come  to  a  determination  about  a  thing,  I 
owe  it  to  myself  not  to  change.  It  is  necessary 
to  my  self-respect  not  to  change.  Before  I 
asked  you  of  the  chiefs  I  made  up  my  mind  that 
if  they  granted  you  to  me  you  would  be  mine, 
and  I  cannot  change.  I  will  not  change.  When 
I  feel  inclined  to  change,  the  thought  comes  into 
my  heart,  you  have  already  settled  that  and  you 
must  not  change ! 

"I  know  very  well  in  my  inmost  heart  that 
notwithstanding  all  the  mingled  motives  that 
have  weight  with  me,  sometimes  inclining  me  to 
let  you  go ;  and  although  I  fully  appreciate  your 
situation  and  put  myself  in  your  place,  and  feel 
pity  for  you,  yet  I  know  that  in  the  end  I  shall 
kill  you,  for  although  I  might  relent  and  let  you 
go  for  the  moment  out  of  pity  for  you,  yet  the 
next  instant  I  would  be  seized  with  regret  that  I 
had  let  the  prize  escape  out  of  my  hands.  You 
would  not  have  gone  three  steps,  till  I  would  be 
running  after  you  to  seize  you!  I  would  be 
filled  with  regret,  once  I  had  let  my  great  priv 
ilege  go.  I  would  say  to  myself,  '  why  have  you 


THE  OJIBWAY  129 

been  so  foolish V  The  highest  privilege  a  per 
son  can  have  to  put  to  death  a  captive!  Our 
men  do  it,  and  think  it  the  greatest  thing !  And 
it  was  in  my  hands  and  I  let  you  go !  Therefore 
I  know  that  I  might  as  well  stop  talking  about  it 
and  kill  you,  for  it  will  come  to  that  in  the  end. 
"Therefore  hear,  my  sister,  some  directions 
that  I  shall  crive  you.  When  your  soul  can  no 
longer  remain  in  the  body  because  of  the  open 
ing  made  in  it,  you  will  hover  some  time  over 
your  body,  unwilling  to  launch  away,  wishing  to 
come  back  again  into  your  house.  But  do  not 
do  so,  for  it  is  no  longer  a  place  for  you.  Your 
house  will  have  been  broken  into,  and  you  can 
no  longer  inhabit  it.  Your  road  will  lie  west 
ward  for  three  days,  and  mostly  over  a  prairie 
country,  to  the  Villages  of  the  Dead.  Although 
it  is  prairie,  you  will  find  wood  enough  to  make 
fire  in  the  evening,  and  you  can  gather  it.  T 
will  see  that  your  packing-strap  is  buried  with 
you;  your  woman's  ax,  your  fire-steel,  and  your 
woman's  a,wl,  so  you  shall  lack  nothing.  And 
when  evening  comes  I  and  my  sisters  will  make  a 
fire  for  you,  so  you  can  have  a  fire  every  evening 
for  three  evenings ;  and  we  will  sit  there  and  talk 
of  you.  Do  not  feel  lonesome,  for  we  shall  be 
watching  with  you.  When  you  get  near  the 
Abodes  of  the  Dead  you  will  see  the  big  straw 
berry  by  the  side  of  the  road,  as  big  as  a  rock; 
and  you  will  see  a  spoon  by  it  for  you  to  dig 
out  all  you  want  of  it.  Eat  and  refresh  your 
self,  for  it  has  been  placed  there  that  you  may 
do  so.  At  the  end  of  the  third  day  you  will 
come  in  sight  of  the  Villages  of  the  Dead,  on 


130  THE  OJIBWAY 

the  other  side  of  a  rapid  river  crossed  by  a 
single  log— the  gog-gog-azh-o-gun,  the  dreadful 
1  rolling  and  sinking  bridge'  that  the  Indians 
are  so  afraid  of.  And  you  will  be  much  dis 
mayed  by  the  big  dog,  as  big  as  a  buffalo,  and 
fierce,  placed  there  to  guard  it  and  prevent  you 
from  going  on  it.  But  do  not  be  dismayed  at 
him;  go  right  on  to  the  log,  for  he  cannot  hurt 
you,  but  tries  to  frighten  you  away.  And  do  not 
be  afraid  of  'the  rolling  and  sinking  bridge. ' 
Venture  fearlessly  on  it  and  you  will  surely  get 
across.  It  will  dip  in  the  water  and  roll  under 
your  feet;  but  never  mind;  you  are  good  and 
will  get  across.  When  you  have  gotten  over, 
and  look  back,  you  will  see  it  writhing  and  twist 
ing  behind  you  like  a  great  serpent.  Below  you, 
down  the  river  you  will  see  the  water  dashing 
at  lightning  speed  over  the  rapids  among  the 
rocks  and  stones,  and  the  souls  of  those  who 
are  very  wicked  fall  off  the  gog-gog-azh-o-gun, 
and  are  carried  down  among  those  rocks,  and 
beaten  and  destroyed  there,  and  they  never  get 
across.  Their  souls  are  lost,  but  you  who  are 
good  and  innocent  will  surely  get  over.  All  the 
Indians  expect  to  get  over  safely,  though  many 
of  them  are  wicked ;  much  more  then  will  you. 

"When  you  have  gotten  across  you  will  find 
your  father  and  mother  and  all  your  little  broth 
ers  and  sisters  there,  and  wait  there  for  me. 
They  say  the  Villages  of  the  Dead  are  very  nice. 
Many  of  our  people  have  been  there,  and  have 
come  back  and  told  us  all  about  it,  and  about 
those  they  saw  there.  They  have  told  us  also 
about  the  dreadful  river  and  the  swinging  log. 


THE  OJIBWAY  131 

They  fell  into  a  sort  of  a  trance  in  their  wigwam. 
Their  bodies  lay  there,  but  their  souls  had  left 
them  temporarily.  Their  souls  were  in  the 
Abodes  of  the  Dead  then,  but  by  and  by  they 
came  back  and  entered  into  their  bodies,  and  then 
they  told  us  all  about  it.  They  are  always  feast 
ing  there,  and  have  plenty  to  eat.  It  is  a  beauti 
ful  prairie  country,  interspersed  with  clear  run 
ning  rivers  fringed  with  timber,  and  filled  with 
all  kinds  of  game ;  deer,  moose,  and  elk ;  which 
they  pursue  incessantly,  and  easily  overcome. 
And  even  on  this  earth  we  can  all  see  them  danc 
ing.  We  don't  need  to  fall  into  a  trance  and  have 
our  souls  leave  our  bodies  and  go  there  to  see 
that.  On  cold  evenings  in  winter  we  see  the  rays 
of  mysterious  light  shooting  up  from  the  north 
into  the  sky,— silently,  beautifully,  delicately; 
and  we  say  Che-bai-yug-ni-mi-i-di-wug— the 
ghosts  are  dancing  with  each  other.  When  I  see 
one  of  those  rays,  the  most  beautiful  and  delicate 
of  them  all,  I  shall  think  to  myself  that  it  is  my 
Sioux  girl ! 

' '  And  do  not  think  that  we  will  forget  you  on 
earth.  We  shall  put  your  body  up  on  a  scaffold, 
where  no  animals  can  molest  it,  nor  any  worms 
of  earth  defile  it;  and  we  shall  wrap  it  in  many 
folds  of  birch-bark,  so  that  neither  the  rain  can 
wet  it  nor  any  birds  attack  it.  And  there,  on 
summer  evenings,  the  little  children  will  dance 
around  it  and  bewail  the  Sioux  girl.  For  long, 
long,  your  grave  will  be  pointed  out  as  that  of 
the  poor  Sioux  girl." 

Here  again  she  affectionately  kissed  her,  and 
then  proceeded  to  do  according  to  her  resolu- 


132  THE  OJIBWAY 

tion.  She  brought  out  a  great  roll  of  the  inner 
bark  of  the  basswood  tree,  which  the  Indians  use 
for  rope,  and  tied  the  unresisting  girl  to  a 
tree.  Then  she  wept  over  her  for  the  last  time, 
and  kissed  her.  Then  she  brought  out  her  knife, 
—and  over  the  beating  heart,  as  she  had  said,- 
she  proceeded  to  incise.  Slowly,  gently,  but 
deeper  went  the  edge,  in  toward  the  fluttering 
heart,  pressed  there  by  her  steady  hand.  At  last 
the  edge  had  gone  too  deep  for  the  soul  further 
to  inhabit  that  body.  They  both  knew  now 
that  whatever  they  might  think  or  determine, 
there  was  but  one  end.  Red-sky-of-the-morning 
might  repent  now  and  change  her  mind,  but  it 
was  too  late.  She  looked  in  the  eyes- of  the  dy 
ing  girl  when  she  knew  the  dividing  line  had 
been  passed,  and  with  her  eyes  inquiringly 
asked,  " Shall  I  go  deeper?"  and  the  poor  girl 
nodded  to  her,  yes,  to  go  deeper.  She  felt  that 
things  had  gone  so  far  that  death  was  now  the 
only  end,  and  she  was  anxious  to  have  it  come. 
Strange  to  say,  also,  she  rather  relied  on  the 
only  one  of  humankind  who  was  with  her,  even 
though  she  w^as  the  one  who  killed  her.  She 
sought  human  sympathy,  and  she  found  it  in 
that  woman's  look  and  face,  though  her  hand 
that  guided  the  cmel  knife  told  a  different  tale. 
At  the  last  it  was  easier  for  the  poor  Sioux  girl 
to  die  there,  with  her  slayer,  than  had  she  been 
all  alone  in  the  wilderness. 

Red-Sky-of-the-Morning  came  away  and  again 
took  her  place  in  life.  Again  she  moved  in  and 
out  of  her  wigwam,  again  plied  her  housewifely 
tasks,  again  moved  about  among  her  neighbors 
of  the  village. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  THIRST  FOR  GLORY  SEIZES  GULL  LAKE  VILLAGE. 

The  expedition  of  Ogema  and  his  compan 
ions  to  the  Sioux  country  had  been  so  successful, 
accomplished  as  it  was  without  the  loss  of  a  man, 
and  even  without  the  touch  of  a  bullet;  they  had 
brought  home  so  many  scalps,  and  a  live  captive, 
and  had  achieved  such  a  reputation  for  success 
ful  daring,  for  wisdom  and  for  courage,  that  it 
naturally  set  the  other  men  to  thinking  if  they, 
too,  could  not  win  such  laurels. 

In  their  assemblies  and  in  the  dances  the  three 
who  had  gone  were  now  marked  men.  They 
were  accorded  higher  honors  than  the  others, 
and  when  they  spoke  their  words  had  a  peculiar 
weight,  as  coming  from  men  who  had  dared  and 
gained  such  things.  And  they  had  the  coveted 
distinction  of  wearing  in  their  head-dress  one 
eagle's  feather  for  each  victim  they  had  killed. 
Their  distinction  was  thus  visibly  proclaimed 
wherever  they  went.  Those  who  had  no  right  to 
wear  such  a  feather  naturally  felt  themselves  in 
ferior.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  that  there 
should  be  many  searchings  of  heart  among  the 
young  braves  to  see  if  they  could  not  achieve 
what  others  had.  And  while  they  were  gaining 
personal  distinction  they  were,  as  they  thought, 
defending  their  country  and  reducing  the  num 
ber  of  their  enemies. 


134  THE  OJIBWAY 

There  was  a  young  man  in  the  village,  a  half- 
Sioux,  who,  like  all  the  others,  was  thinking  of 
these  things ;  and  it  gradually  came  to  him  that 
from  peculiar  circumstances  he  was  in  a  position 
to  do  a  good  stroke  of  work  and  to  become  a 
famous  man.  He  revolved  it  some  time  in  his 
mind,  and  the  plan  gradually  became  clear. 
His  mother  had  been  taken  captive  in  one  of  the 
raids  of  the  Sioux  upon  the  Ojibways,  and  being 
carried  to  the  Sioux  country  was  married,  with 
out  her  consent,  to  a  Sioux  brave.  Her  son  was 
therefore  half  Sioux  and  half  Ojibway.  There 
she  and  the  boy  lived  for  some  years,  but  the 
love  of  her  own  land  and  people  was  strong 
upon  her,  and  finding  an  opportunity  to  escape, 
she  fled,  taking  her  son  with  her,  and  succeeded 
in  reaching  her  native  village.  There  the  boy 
grew  up,  and  became  a  thorough  Ojibway  in 
feeling,  espousing  their  quarrel  against  the 
Sioux,  as  he  was  of  a  very  tender  age  when  he 
came  among  them.  He  grew  up  tall  and  strong, 
with  even  more  of  energy,  ambition,  and  strength 
in  his  nature  than  the  Ojibways  around  him,  de 
rived  probably  from  the  mixture  of  the  two 
bloods,  which  so  often  seems  to  produce  that  ef 
fect.  He  was  a  good  hunter,  and  was  strong  and 
determined  in  everything  he  undertook.  Al 
though  brought  where  he  never  heard  a  word  of 
Sioux  except  when  talking  it  with  his  mother, 
who  had  learned  considerable  of  it  during  her 
enforced  stay,  he  yet  retained  some  knowledge 
of  the  language,  the  echoes  of  what  had  been  his 
tongue  in  infancy  remaining  with  him.  He  was 


THE  OJIBWAY  135 

called  by  the  Indians,  Bwan  (the  Sioux  or  Roast 
er),  from  his  Sioux  blood. 

Bwan  now  resolved  to  start  for  his  native  vil 
lage  and  as  no  one  had  the  peculiar  facilities  for 
success  which  he  had,  to  go  alone.  As  he  did 
not  have  to  ask  for  any  companions,  and  as  he 
knew  that  permission  for  himself  would  readily 
be  granted,  he  did  not  think  necessary  to  ask  any 
formal  permission  of  the  band,  and  being  of  a 
hold  and  independent  disposition,  he  did  not  feel 
like  doing  so  in  any  case.  He  knew  that  success 
would  justify  him  if  he  came  back,  and  if  he 
never  came  back  it  was  all  the  same  whether  he 
had  asked  permission  or  not.  He  therefore 
kissed  his  babies,  bade  good-by  to  his  Ojibway 
wife  and  his  old  mother,  and  taking  his  gun,  his 
tomahawk,  his  food  bag,  and  his  knife,  started 
alone.  His  point  of  destination  was  an  entirely 
different  one  from  that  of  the  last  party,  who 
had  gone  south.  His  was  the  Sioux  village 
called  Chief  Mountain,  in  the  present  state  of 
South  Dakota.  His  road  therefore  lay  south- 
westwardly  across  the  now  state  of  Minnesota. 
The  distance  was  about  eight  sleeps  (180  miles). 

For  the  first  two  days  his  spirits  were  high, 
because  in  front  of  him,  at  the  distance  of  about 
2  days'  march  (60  miles)  was  the  Otter-tail  band 
of  Ojibway s,  his  own  people,  many  of  them  per 
sonally  known  to  him.  It  was  pleasant  to  look 
forward  to  seeing  them,  and  to  spending  a  few 
days  in  their  lodges,  and  that  for  the  present 
shut  out  the  view  of  what  was  beyond.  He  sang 
loud  and  clear  as  he  walked  along  through 
the  woods  all  day,  and  camped  all  alone  at  night. 


136  THE  OJIBWAY 

It  did  not  seem  lonesome,  making  his  bed  all  by 
himself  in  the  depths  of  the  great  forest,  for  the 
next  evening  would  find  him  with  the  Ojibways. 
Nor  did  it  seem  lonesome  the  next  day,  when  the 
forest  gradually  thinned  out  and  allowed  more 
extensive  views,  for  every  step  was  bringing  him 
nearer  to  friends.  In  the  evening  he  reached 
the  Ojibway  lodges,  and  was  warmly  received. 
These  Otter-Tail  Indians  were  a  sort  of  outpost 
of  the  Ojibways  against  the  Sioux,  being  thrust 
out  on  the  prairie  the  farthest  toward  them. 
There  he  learned  all  the  news  of  that  band,  and 
in  return  gave  them  all  that  had  happened  at 
Gull  Lake  and  the  news  of  the  world  generally. 
After  having  sufficiently  rested  he  left  them, 
and  resumed  his  lonely  way  over  the  prairies  to 
ward  the  southwest.  Here  the  gravity  of  his 
position  first  became  borne  in  upon  him.  He 
had  left  the  human  race  behind  when  he  parted 
from  the  last  of  the  Otter-Tail  Ojibways;  and 
was  going,  a  lonely  man,  across  a  vast  expanse 
of  prairie,  seeing  no  human  being,  to  discover 
a  new  race,  and  what  a  reception  awaited  him 
there  he  could  only  dimly  discern.  But  he 
felt  that  the  risk  was  terrible,  and  that 
he  was  perhaps  deliberately  walking  into  the 
jaws  of  death.  The  solitude  of  the  great 
prairies,  the  absence  of  human  companionship 
day  after  day,  oppressed  him.  He  felt  that  the 
expedition  of  Ojibway  and  his  companions  was 
a  pleasure-trip  compared  to  what  he  had  under 
taken,  for  they  had  companionship.  Danger 
faced  in  company  was  nothing;  it  roused,  it 
stimulated,  there  was  even  a  pleasing  ex- 


THE  OJIBWAY  137 

citement  about  it;  but  danger  faced  all 
alone,  in  cold  blood,  was  a  liard  undertaking. 
To  be  sure  the  country  through  which  he  passed 
was  most  beautiful,  and  it  was  at  the  most  beau 
tiful  time  of  the  year.  The  prairies  were  clothed 
with  the  deepest  green,  gently  undulating  in  long 
swells  of  land,  and  interspersed  with  beautiful 
groves,  where  birds  of  many  different  kinds 
sang.  There  were  many  rivers  and  streams, 
fringed  with  timber,  winding  their  way  through 
the  lovely  landscape,  and  there  were  countless 
prairie  lakes,  wherever  he  went;  some  of  them 
only  a  few  acres  in  extent,  some  miles  in  circum 
ference  ;  but  all,  like  so  many  mirrors,  reflecting 
heaven  in  their  depths.  Sometimes,  when  the 
sun  was  about  setting,  it  lit  them  all  up  at  once, 
and  standing  on  some  eminence  he  could  see 
them  flashing  in  apparently  endless  succession 
far,  far  away,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  A 
great  rain  had  fallen  and  collected  in  countless 
pools  amidst  the  verdure,  and  remained  there. 
Everything  was  fresh  and  beautiful,  and  sweet 
and  cool,  and  freshly  washed  with  plentiful  rain 
from  the  sky.  The  whole  earth  was  singing  and 
rejoicing.  When  he  arose  in  the  morning  from 
sleep  the  air  was  filled  with  a  chorus  from  birds 
of  all  kinds.  Some  calling  out  from  little  lakes, 
some  singing  in  the  groves,  some  from  the 
prairie  grass.  One  mingled  hymn  of  praise 
went  up  from  all  nature,  each  creature  striving 
in  a  different,  but  blended,  harmonious  way  to 
express  the  common  joy.  The  storms  and  the 
cold  of  winter  were  forgotten  in  the  loveliness, 
the  abundance,  and  the  deep  joy  of  the  present. 


138  THE  OJIBWAY 

"The  Sioux "  felt  the  charm;  the  spell,  and  he 
felt  also  that  the  mission  on  which  he  was  going 
was  out  of  harmony  with  it  all.  He  was  a  lonely 
man,  who  had  left  home  and  wife  and  child  far 
behind  him,  and  before  him  was  what?  Home 
sickness,  loneliness,  a  certainty  of  impending 
danger,  all  oppressed  him.  His  thoughts  contin 
ually  reverted  to  his  wigwam,  to  his  little  chil 
dren  playing  around  it.  He  could  see  them  all, 
and  oh !  what  would  he  not  have  given  to  be  with 
them!  But  pride,  determination  not  to  turn 
back  from  what  he  had  once  resolved  on,  was 
strong.  It  was,  however,  a  continual  struggle 
with  himself  not  to  give  up. 

There  was  no  trail  of  any  kind,  but  he  had 
often  heard  the  Indians  who  had  gone  on  large 
war  parties  of  two  or  three  hundred  against  that 
Sioux  village  describe  the  landmarks  one  after 
the  other,  and  as  he  came  to  one  the  next  opened 
to  his  view.  Perhaps  also  there  lurked  dimly  in 
his  brain  some  idea  of  the  route  he  had  passed 
over  when  his  mother  fled  with  him.  And  it  is 
also  true  that  some  Indians  can,  by  some  sense 
unknown  to  the  white  man,  go  directly  toward 
any  spot  where  they  have  ever  been  in  the  course 
of  their  lives,  from  whatever  place  they  happen 
then  to  be. 

So  day  after  day  he  walked,  and  night  after 
night  he  made  his  lonely  camp.  His  trusty  gun 
brought  him  all  the  game  he  needed,  and  with 
some  wild  rice  which  he  carried  with  him  it 
made  him  most  excellent  food.  Every  evening 
he  kindled  his  fire,  put  on  his  little  pot  and 
cooked  his  game,  mixed  the  wild  rice  with  it, 


THE  OJIBWAY  139 

drank  the  hot  broth  and  had  a  good  meal.  Then 
he  sat  and  thought  and  smoked  till  bedtime; 
then,  wrapping  himself  in  his  blanket,  he  slept. 
In  the  morning  he  again  made  his  fire  and 
cooked  his  meal.  For  many  days  and  nights  he 
had  seen  no  human  being.  The  world  seemed  to 
be  empty,  and  he  the  only  man  in  it. 

And  here  a  new  experience  came  to  him ;  some 
thing  he  had  never  felt  in  his  life  before.  As  he 
went  on  day  after  day  he  gradually  became 
aware  of  a  Presence ;  and  it  grew  more  and  more 
clear  to  him  that  it  was  the  Presence  of  God. 
He  had  not  felt  it  while  going  out  and  in  among 
the  groves  and  prairies  about  Gull  Lake,  for  he 
was  then  among  the  haunts  of  men,  and  though 
he  was  alone  during  the  day,  the  evening  brought 
him  to  human  beings.  There  was  not  time 
enough  then  for  the  impression  to  be  borne  in 
upon  him.  But  now,  not  hearing  a  human  voice, 
nor  seeing  a  trace  of  man's  existence  for  so 
many  days,  all  impediments  that  otherwise  occu 
pied  the  avenues  to  his  soul  were  removed;  and 
that  soul  was  laid  bare  in  an  extraordinarily 
sensitive  state  to  receive  impressions.  So  this 
consciousness  of  a  Presence  deepened  as  the  days 
wore  on.  It  grew  more  haunting,  for  it  was  the 
only  thing  with  him.  It  was  a  Presence  which 
he  could  not  see;  nor  hear,  nor  detect  by  any 
of  his  senses;  but  it  was  something  that  was 
felt,  and  which  he  could  not  deny.  He  would 
not  have  been  very  much  surprised  if  It  had 
spoken  to  him  by  name.  In  the  state  of  mind  in 
which  he  was  it  was  a  Presence  which  filled  him 
with  distrust  and  with  fear.  He  longed  to  escape 


140  THE  OJIBWAY 

from  It.  He  was  glad  when  the  time  came  to 
sleep ;  to  be  rid  of  It ;  but  when  he  awoke  in  the 
morning  and  turned  his  thought  to  It,  there  It 
was  still.  The  singing  of  the  birds;  the  sweet 
shining  of  the  sun,  the  deep  repose  and  joy  that 
filled  all  things  were  all  in  harmony  with  It; 
he  only,  he  felt,  was  a  dissonant  note.  It  made 
him  angry,  and  he  longed  to  be  once  more  with 
the  distractions  of  human  beings,  even  with  foes, 
to  be  rid  of  It. 

And  now  at  last  he  arrived  at  the  tents  of  the 
Sioux,  far  spread,  for  it  was  a  large  village; 
and  the  critical  moment  was  come.  Behind  him 
were  wife  and  children,  and  he  was  still  undis 
covered  and  could  go  back  if  he  wished,  and  live 
and  enjoy  all  that  life  had  to  give.  But  if  he 
discovered  himself  he  was  no  longer  his  own 
master,  his  fate  was  taken  out  of  his  own  hands 
and  put  into  the  hands  of  others.  He  felt  the 
seriousness  of  it. 

At  this  time  he  was  lying  hidden  in  the  willow 
bushes  by  the  bank  of  the  stream  which  flowed 
along  by  their  village,  and  from  which  they  got 
their  supply  of  water.  Their  skin  lodges  were 
widespread  before  him,  and  hundreds  of  smokes 
were  rising.  Ponies  were  tied  about  every 
where.  The  little  children  raised  their  shrill 
voices  in  play,  and  the  women  came  down  to  the 
stream  for  water.  His  heart  was  now  beating 
wildly.  Once  more  he  went  all  over  it,  and  had 
to  decide  anew  what  he  thought  he  had  long  ago 
decided.  He  remembered  that  he  had  not  told 
anyone  what  he  had  intended  to  do,  so  that  if  he 
now  gave  it  up  and  went  home  his  reputation 


THE  OJIBWAY  141 

would  not  suffer.  No  one  would  know  where  he 
had  been  nor  what  he  had  gone  for.  He  could 
lie  in  those  willows  till  dark  perfectly  secure, 
then,  unseen  and  his  presence  unsuspected,  go 
home.  Life  is  sweet.  The  simple  joy  of  living 
in  his  Gull  Lake  village  never  seemed  to  him  so 
great  as  now.  There  was  something  pulling  at 
his  heart  strongly  tempting  him  to  give  it  up. 
The  thought  of  giving  himself  into  the  hands  of 
those  swarming  multitudes,  unable  to  defend 
himself,  unable  to  do  anything  to  help  himself, 
was  well-nigh  insupportable.  He  found  that 
he  had  almost  to  exert  violence  upon  himself  to 
do  it.  It  would  have  been  easy  to  rush  upon 
them  and  die  fighting;  but  to  have  to  suffer 
passively,  to  be  unable  to  take  his  mind  from  his 
sufferings  by  action,  that  was  hard.  To  be  in 
the  midst  of  angry,  encircling  faces  a  helpless 
captive,  perhaps  to  be  pulled  to  pieces,  perhaps 
to  be  roasted !  He  could  not  bear  to  think  of  it. 
And  all  for  what?  For  fame,  for  glory.  And 
could  he  not  live  without  the  fame  and  the  glory  ? 
All  these  thoughts  passed  through  his  mind  and 
almost  unnerved  him.  Then  he  remembered 
that  he  had  once  made  up  his  mind,  and  his  pride 
would  not  allow  him  to  change.  Though  it  were 
manifest  destruction,  he  could  not  bear  to  give 
up  what  he  had  once  entered  on.  So  the  hour  of 
weakness  passed.  He  rose  up,  stood  out  in  the 
open  and  hailed  them. 

Instantly  there  was  a  commotion  in  the  vil 
lage.  Something  about  his  dress  or  appearance 
told  them  he  was  a  strange  Indian.  A  hush  fell 
upon  the  camp;  the  cries  of  the  children  at  play 


142  THE  OJIBWAY 

ceased.  The  men  grasped  bows  and  arrows, 
guns  and  tomahawks,  and  ran  to  him.  The 
women  seized  their  children  and  hurried  into 
their  teepees.  He  was  soon  the  center  of  a  cir 
cle,  with  guns  pointed  at  him,  and  bows  full 
drawn  upon  him  from  every  side,  while  angry 
faces  were  bent  upon  him.  None  of  them  had 
ever  seen  him  before.  Had  he  dropped  from 
the  clouds?  It  did  not  seem  possible  that  one  of 
their  enemies,  the  Ojibways,  had  dared  to  come 
against  them  all  alone.  Should  they  kill  him  at 
once,  or  would  they  wait  and  see  where  he  came 
from  and  what  he  wanted  1 

He  now  furnished  the  key  out  of  this  perplex 
ity  by  calling  out  loudly  in  Sioux  the  names  of 
his  uncles,  which  he  knew,  for  his  mother  had 
told  him.  He  called  them  again  and  again,  and 
they  knew  he  wanted  to  see  them.  It  would 
not  do  to  kill  him  when  he  was  calling  out  in 
Sioux  that  Mazakootemane  and  such  and  such 
men  were  his  uncles.  Besides,  they  could  kill  him 
at  leisure  any  time  after  they  knew  what  this 
sudden  apparition  meant.  So  they  held  him  cap 
tive,  while  runners  were  despatched  for  the  un 
cles  whom  he  named,  and  who  lived  off  at  a  little 
distance  from  the  village.  These  soon  came  run 
ning,  and  he  quickly  satisfied  them  by  the  few 
words  of  Sioux  he  could  speak,  and  by  showing 
them  some  trinkets  of  theirs  which  his  mother 
and  he  had  borne  away  with  them  when  they 
fled,  and  by  the  family  likeness,  which  they 
quickly  recognized,  that  he  was  indeed  their 
long-lost  nephew.  They  received  him  with  affec 
tion,  and  installed  him  in  one  of  their  lodges. 


THE  OJIBWAY  143 

He  had  successfully  passed  the  crisis ;  his  life 
was  preserved. 

It  is  painful  to  have  to  relate  what  followed. 
For  the  honor  of  human  nature  it  would  be  well 
if  it  could  be  covered ;  but  we  are  telling  of  life 
as  it  then  was  among  the  Sioux  and  Ojibways. 
The  poet  long  ago  sang  of  the  accursed  thirst  for 
gold,  and  what  it  forced  mortal  hearts  to  do; 
there  has  been  an  accursed  thirst  for  fame 
as  well.  His  uncles  made  a  great  feast  for  their 
new-found  relative.  They  assembled  in  the 
lodge  of  one  of  them,  and  ate,  sang  and  danced 
for  joy.  When  at  last,  wearied  with  their  exer 
tions  and  their  feasting,  they  were  all  buried  in 
profound  slumber,  he,  sleepless,  arose  and 
drove  his  knife  through  the  breasts  of 
every  one  of  them  and  killed  all  that  were  in  the 
lodge.  It  would  not  do  to  shoot;  the  report 
would  raise  the  Sioux,  who  were  off  a  little 
ways;  but  the  deadly  knife  did  the  work  with 
out  noise.  Then  the  scalps  were  taken  from 
each,  preparations  made  for  a  hasty  depar 
ture,  and  out  into  the  night  went ' l  The  Sioux. ' ' 
By  morning's  light  he  was  far  away,  on  the  road 
toward  his  own  country,  and  lying  hidden  in  a 
grove,  he  watched  his  enemies  scouring  the 
prairie  on  their  ponies  for  him.  When  dark 
ness  fell  he  again  started,  traveling  by  the  stars ; 
and  after  a  few  nights  was  beyond  all  pursuit. 

When  he  arrived  at  his  own  village  the  people 
were  again  delirious  with  joy  over  so  many 
scalps.  They  danced  over  them  for  days  and 
weeks,  and  "The  Sioux V  name  was  on  every 
lip.  Ogema,  Yellow  Thunder,  and  their  com- 


144  THE  OJIBWAY 

panion  had  done  well,  had  done  wonders;  but 
was  there  ever  such  a  thing  heard  of  as  that 
which  "  The  Sioux ' '  had  done  ?  To  go  in  openly 
into  a  numerous  camp  of  enemies  and  give  him 
self  up  to  them  and  come  out  again  alive,  and 
with  such  a  rich  lading!  "The  Sioux"  in  sub 
tlety,  in  daring,  in  courage,  in  results  had  sur 
passed  them  all.  Never  had  a  braver  nor  a  more 
successful  deed  been  done  in  the  history  of  the 
Ojibways.  Henceforth  "The  Sioux "  was  one 
whom  the  people  turned  to  look  after  when  he 
passed. 

Having  got  a  taste  of  such  things,  this  was 
not  the  end.  He  was  out  with  his  wife  and 
two  young  men  hunting  near  the  debatable 
ground  between  the  Sioux  and  Ojibways.  This 
was  a  border  region,  midway  between  their  re 
spective  villages,  which  all  but  the  boldest  hunt 
ers  avoided,  for  though  game  was  more  plentiful 
there  than  anywhere  else,  owing  to  the  region 
not  being  so  much  hunted  over,  yet  on  account 
of  the  great  danger  that  attended  it,  people  pre 
ferred  to  be  content  with  lesser  gains  elsewhere, 
and  safety. 

While  out  there  "The  Sioux"  discovered  that 
a  Sioux  family  was  also  hunting  there.  This 
party  consisted  of  an  old  man,  his  daughter  and 
children,  her  husband,  and  another  young  man. 
Again  "The  Sioux"  made  use  of  what  he  knew 
of  his  old  language.  He  opened  negotiations 
with  the  old  man,  established  peace,  and  pro 
posed  to  pass  the  night  with  the  family  in  their 
teepee  as  their  guests.  The  old  man  was  per 
haps  a  little  afraid,  but  considered  it  less  danger 


THE  OJIBWAY  145 

to  run  the  risk  of  entertaining  such  guests  than 
by  refusal  to  invite  instant  battle.  All  the  party 
was  therefore  taken  in  and  hospitably  enter 
tained.  After  supper,  while  "The  Sioux "  was 
conversing  with  the  old  man,  he  told  his  wife, 
who  was  sitting  behind  him,  to  cock  his  gun  and 
place  it  behind  him  ready  to  his  hand,  speaking 
to  her  in  a  low  tone  in  Ojibway,  and  so  not  un 
derstood  by  his  hosts.  She  did  so  without  mak 
ing  any  clicking.  Then  while  yet  conversing 
with  the  old  man  he  put  his  hand  behind  him, 
and  still  looking  him  calmly  in  the  eye  poured 
the  contents  into  his  breast. 

That  shot  immediately  startled  every  one  in 
the  lodge  into  wildest  activity.  The  husband 
of  the  woman,  and  the  other  Sioux  young  man, 
immediately  dived  under  the  bottom  of  the  skin 
lodge,  out  into  the  darkness,  and  into  the  under 
brush  and  escaped.  The  young  woman  might 
perhaps  have  done  so,  but  mother-love  was  too 
strong  for  her,  for  she  stopped  to  pick  up  her 
two  children,  snatching  one  with  each  arm,  be 
fore  she  ran.  That  gave  the  two  Ojibway  young 
men  time  to  seize  their  tomahawks,  which  they 
did  the  moment  the  shot  made  known  to  them  the 
altered  condition  of  affairs,  and  they  quickly 
despatched  her  and  the  babes.  Again  a  harvest 
of  scalps  was  reaped,  and  again  "The  Sioux " 
demonstrated  his  ability  to  overcome  the  dread 
ed  Sioux  under  all  circumstances.  Once  more 
there  was  great  rejoicing  in  the  Ojibway  village, 
and  "The  Sioux "  was  acclaimed  the  man  above 
all  others. 


CHATER  XIII. 

THE  THIRST  FOR  GLORY  STILL  WORKS. 

The  work  was  now  going  bravely  on.  Many 
reputations  had  been  gained,  great  glory  had 
been  won.  The  name  of  Ojibway  had  become 
more  renowned  than  ever  through  the  late 
exploits  of  the  Ogema  and  Yellow  Thunder 
party,  and  "The  Sioux. "  And  all  had  been 
accomplished  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  It 
was  fun  to  one  side  and  death  only  to  the  other. 
The  Chippewas*  danced  and  sang,  and  only  the 
Sioux  wailed  and  lamented.  There  were  no 
empty  wigwams,  and  no  empty  places  in  Ojib 
way  households.  This  uniform  success  stimu 
lated  many.  Some  had  made  great  reputations, 
why  might  not  others  f 

An  Ojibway  named  Ga-nunda-winzo  (The- 
Berry-Picker)  was  out  hunting  in  winter  with  his 
nephew,  using  a  train  of  dogs  and  a  sled.  Com 
ing  to  a  large  Sioux  village  near  the  termination 
of  his  hunt,  he  proposed  to  his  nephew  to  go  to 
it  with  offers  of  peace.  They  did  so,  were  ac 
cepted,  and  entertained,  being  assigned  to  a  cer 
tain  family  living  in  the  outskirts  of  the  village 
a  little  ways  off  from  the  others.  The  Sioux 
had  no  suspicion  that  they  would  attempt  any 
thing  among  such  overpowering  numbers. 

It  may  seem  strange,  in  view  of  what  has  been 

*Chlppewa  is  our  English  corruption  of  Ojibway. 


THE  OJIBWAY  147 

said  about  the  relations  of  the  Sioux  and  Ojib- 
way,  that  any  offers  of  peace  could  have  been 
made  or  accepted;  but  it  arose  from  the  fact 
that  the  commanding  officer  of  the  fort  before 
spoken  of  near  what  is  now  the  city  of  St.  Paul, 
had  before  this  brought  Sioux  and  Chippewas 
together  in  a  conference,  with  a  view  of  making 
a  permanent  peace ;  and  that  the  chaplain  before 
mentioned  had  been  exerting  himself  to  the  same 
end.  These  peace  ideas  were  now  working  in 
the  minds  of  the  Sioux  and  made  the  reception 
of  The-Berry-Picker  and  his  nephew,  with  their 
white  flag,  possible.  The  Sioux  saw  plainly 
enough  from  how  many  miseries  peace  with  the 
Ojibways  would  deliver  them. 

The  evening  meal  is  over,  and  the  moccasins 
of  the  guests  hung  up  to  dry,  a  pledge  of  their 
inability  to  move.  At  last  the  camp  is  buried 
in  sleep.  All  but  the  two  Ojibway  braves;  no 
sleep  for  them.  They  are  holding  a  whispered 
conference  under  the  blanket  which  envelops 
them,  head  and  all,  as  they  lie.  Now  the  fatal 
moment  has  come.  Assent  has  been  given  on 
both  sides  to  try  it,  desperate  though  it  be.  The 
words  "I  am  ready "  have  been  passed,  and  as 
the  nephew  says  "haw,"  which  means  "ready, 
now  is  the  time, ' '  both  spring  upon  the  sleeping 
members  of  the  lodge,  with  the  fury  of  tigers, 
their  knives  ready  drawn  in  their  hands.  There 
is  knifing  of  one  to  the  heart,  and  then  another. 
Murder  is  holding  a  revel.  But  a  young 
woman  of  the  family  springs  out  of  her  sleep, 
and  clutches  with  each  of  her  hands  a  wrist  of 
The-Berry-Picker,  raises  his  hands  high  above 


148  THE  OJIBWAY 

his  head,  seeking  to  avoid  from  herself  the  reek 
ing  and  dripping  knife;  and  with  desperate 
strength  and  seemingly  superhuman  energy 
bears  him  backward  and  downward.  She  is  tall 
and  strong,  and  infuriated.  "A  woman  over 
comes  me,"  he  despairingly  cries,  giving  him 
self  up  for  lost  under  the  overbearing  assault 
of  the  enraged  and  desperate  woman,  when  he 
hears  the  ponderous  thud  of  his  nephew's 
hatchet  crushing  her  skull.  She  sinks  down,  a 
limp  mass,  upon  the  floor,  and  the  silence  of 
death  succeeds  the  late  wild  commotion  in  the 
lodge. 

But  now  the  Sioux  camp  begins  to  awake  from 
its  sleep.  This  thing  had  been  intended  to  be 
done  secretly,  but  nevertheless  sounds  of  murder 
have  reached  the  main  Sioux  camp,  which  was 
at  a  little  distance.  The  Sioux  are  hastily  put 
ting  on  moccasins,  they  reach  for  arms,  they 
will  soon  be  here.  Hasty  preparations  therefore 
for  flight ;  get  the  dogs  out,  get  them  fastened  to 
the  sled,  jump  on  it  and  be  off!  Now  for  life! 
The  Sioux  are  just  coming. 

There  were  an  endless  number  of  paths  lead 
ing  from  the  village,  all  diverging  from  one 
main  road.  Some  led  to  where  wood  was 
chopped,  some  to  where  their  ponies  were,  some 
to  watering-holes  chopped  in  the  ice,  some 
to  other  Sioux  villages.  Paths,  paths  branching 
off  everywhere,  to  the  right  hand  and  to  the 
left;  and  only  one  path  that  leads  away  and  to 
safety.  The  men  know  not  which  it  is,  the  dogs 
must  choose.  Will  they  find  it?  It  is  one  chance 
in  a  thousand,  or  in  ten  thousand,  if  they  do. 


THE  OJIBWAY  149 

The  Sioux  are  pressing,  yelling  close  behind.  If 
they  choose  any  one  but  the  right  one  it  will 
quickly  come  to  an  end  at  some  wood-chopping 
place  or  at  some  watering-hole,  or  it  will  come 
to  nothing  on  the  prairie,  and  the  enemy  will  be 
upon  them.  Will  the  dogs  find  it!  In  the  dark 
ness  of  the  night,  amidst  such  a  multiplicity  of 
trails,  man's  acuteness,  even  the  acuteness  of  the 
Indian,  is  of  no  avail.  Will  the  dogs,  on  the  keen 
run  in  the  dark,  know  the  only  path  amidst  a 
hundred  others,  which  leads  to  the  village  where 
they  have  been  reared?  No  time  for  them  to 
stop  and  deliberate,  for  The-Berry-Picker  and 
his  nephew  are  lashing  them,  and  exciting  them 
with  yells  to  their  utmost  speed.  In  their  ears 
are  the  Sioux  yells,  and  in  the  gloom  behind  their 
forms  can  be  dimly  seen,  more  cruel,  more  piti 
less  than  a  pack  of  pursuing  wolves. 

Yes,  wonderful  to  relate,  the  dogs  have  taken 
the  only  right  path,  the  sled  bounds  along  on 
it,  made  hard  by  the  tramping  of  so  many 
moccasined  feet,  as  if  it  were  on  ice.  The 
pursuers  are  left  far  behind,  and  the  heroes 
of  the  exploit  remark  to  each  other  that  they 
are  "going  to  live."  The  clamor  behind  dies 
down :  they  are  borne  far  away,  and  to  safety. 

The  fame  attained  by  The-Berry-Picker  by 
this  exploit  was  great.  He  had  taken  most  des 
perate  chances,  and  yet  lived.  No  one  could 
have  thought  that  he  would  go  into  the  midst 
of  a  Sioux  camp  and  bring  out  scalps,  and  still 
live ;  yet  he  had  done  it. 

As  may  be  imagined,  this  did  not  end  his 
career.  The  desire  to  kill  but  grew  with  what 


150  THE  OJIBWA^ 

he  had  done.  Continual,  almost  innumerable, 
bloody  deeds  followed,  from  all  of  which  he 
came  out  alive  and  unharmed.  He  now  thought 
only  on  how  he  could  add  to  his  already  tower 
ing  fame.  All  his  other  deeds  we  may  pass  over 
and  relate  only  one,  the  last.  In  the  course  of 
his  ranging  about  everywhere  for  hundreds  of 
miles  on  the  Sioux  frontier,  he  learned  that  at 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  post,  then  called 
Fort  Garry,  now  Winnipeg,  there  were  two  half- 
breed  Sioux  old  women,  the  daughters  of  former 
employes  of  the  Company,  who  had  separated 
themselves  from  the  Indians  and  lived  after  the 
manner  of  the  whites,  making  a  hard  living  by 
washing  the  floors  of  the  Company's  stores  and 
the  dwellings  of  their  clerks.  Thither  therefore 
he  hied;  m  the  night  attacked  them  as  they 
were  asleep  in  their  little  shanty,  not  dreaming 
of  danger,  and,  bursting  in  upon  them,  killed 
them  without  resistance,  and  scalped  them.  In 
the  morning  the  factors  of  the  English  Company 
and  their  white  employes  assembled  where  he 
and  his  men  were,  burning  with  indignation 
that  he  should  invade  their  country  -and  murder 
two  aged  women  who  were  harmless,  living  as 
do  the  whites,  half  white,  and  under  their  pro 
tection.  Their  looks  were  threatening,  and  it 
was  doubtful  if  he  would  escape  them.  He 
endeavored  to  explain  to  his  angry  interlocutors 
that  those  women  had  Sioux  blood,  and  so  were 
his  enemies.  The  plea  was  rejected,  and  more 
wrathful  looks  bent  upon  him.  Then,  as  he 
expressed  it,  "he  felt  his  manhood  rise."  Tak 
ing  his  gun,  he  faced  his  encircling  enemies, 


THE  OJIBWAY  151 

pointing  it  at  the  feet  of  each  in  succession,  the 
hammer  raised  and  his  finger  on  the  trigger. 
They  hopped  up  from  the  ground  one  after  the 
other,  each  man  lifting  the  foot  at  which  that 
gun  pointed,  each  trying  to  escape  the  threat 
ened  bullet.  Thus  he  swept  them,  and  having 
cowed  them  turned  and  strode  away.  He  had 
two  daughters  at  home,  his  only  children,  and 
the  Indians  remarked  that  soon  after  the  killing 
of  those  two  old  women,  the  girls  faded  away 
and  died.  There  seemed  to  be  nothing  the 
matter  with  them,  but  somehow  they  just  faded 
away  and  he  was  left  childless. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SUMMER   HAPPINESS. 

It  was  by  this  time  high  summer  at  Gull  Lake, 
and  the  Indians  were  fairly  reveling  in  beauty 
and  in  plenty.  There  were  thousands  of  rose 
bushes  everywhere,  all  in  full  bloom,  and  filling 
the  air  with  the  most  delicious  perfume.  The 
prairies  and  openings  were  carpeted  with  count 
less  flowers  of  infinite  variety  and  every  beau 
tiful  hue.  The  sky  was  of  a  deep  steel  blue ;  and 
thunderstorms,  mostly  at  night,  and  heavy  sum 
mer  plumps,  kept  the  air  sweet  and  fresh,  and 
everything  on  the  earth  washed  with  abundant 
rain  fresh  from  the  sky.  The  lake  lay  like  a 
gem  in  its  beautiful  setting  of  pine-clad  hills 
and  little  prairies,  and  on  its  flashing  bosom 
crept  the  birch-bark  canoes  of  the  Indians,  as 
graceful  and  beautiful  and  as  much  in  keeping 
with  the  scene  as  though  nature  herself  had 
made  them.  The  blueberries,  thought  by  them 
to  be  the  most  delicious  of  all  fruits,  were  now 
in  the  greatest  abundance;  in  some  spots  the 
ground  was  black  with  them;  and  in  these,  as 
well  as  in  an  abundance  of  venison,  moose-meat, 
bear-meat,  and  fish,  they  revelled.  There  was  no 
sickness  anywhere,  and  amidst  such  happy  sur 
roundings,  such  beautiful  scenes,  and  such  an 
abundance  of  everything  that  was  good  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  153 

desirable  in  the  earth  they  fairly  gave  them 
selves  to  universal  joy. 

Their  expeditions  against  the  Sioux  had  been 
uniformly  successful  and  they  had  not  lost  a 
single  man.  They  had  acquired  great  additional 
glory  and  reputation  to  their  village,  and  had 
gained  a  large  number  of  scalps,  which  were  to 
them  an  unfailing  source  of  joy.  Is  it  any 
wonder  then  that  the  soul-stirring  drum  was  so 
often  beating,  calling  to  the  entrancing  delirium 
of  dancing  round  those  scalps?  Any  wonder 
that  the  exulting  war-whoops  of  the  men  were 
so  often  heard,  and  the  shrill  voices  of  the 
women,  carrying  the  chants?  Any  one  to  have 
looked  in  on  them  and  watched  them  day  by  day 
would  have  said  that  they  were  the  happiest 
people;  that  their  sky  was  clear  blue,  without 
a  speck  of  cloud  in  it;  and  that  if  there  were 
beings  living  a  life  of  unclouded  happiness  any 
where  here  on  earth,  these  were  they. 

Love-making  went  on,  and  the  sound  of  the 
young  men's  flutes  was  heard  in  some  part  of 
their  village  every  night,  and  congenial  souls 
experienced  the  rapture  of  finding  each  other. 
There  was  not  one  jarring  note,  not  one  cry  of 
sickness  or  of  sorrow  in  the  whole  village. 
Their  life  in  the  open  air  night  and  day,  as  well 
as  abundance  and  the  greatest  variety  of  the 
finest  food,  kept  them  in  the  best  physical  condi 
tion,  which  the  champagne  quality  of  the  air,  the 
pure  water,  and  the  close  contact  with  mother- 
earth,  upon  which  they  lay  by  day  and  slept 
by  night,  at  the  very  season  when  she  was  put 
ting  forth  her  loveliest  effects  in  flower  and 


154  THE  OJIBWAY 

fruit  and  perfume,  added  to.  The  physical  uni 
verse  at  that  season  and  in  that  place  reveled  in 
an  exuberance  of  joy,  and  their  hearts  and 
spirits,  and  even  their  bodily  frames  felt  the 
influence  of  it  and  were  attuned  to  the  same  note. 

They  no  longer  took  their  daily  repasts 
inside  their  wigwams,  but  outside  where  they 
could  enjoy  the  wealth  of  summer  around  them. 
A  fire  was  usually  kindled  in  front  of  each  wig 
wam,  and  there  the  cooking  was  done;  and  the 
savory  steam  of  meat,  mingling  with  the  curling 
smoke,  contended  for  supremacy  with  the  deli 
cate  perfume  of  roses  which  every  breath  blew 
in  upon  them  as  they  lay  upon  the  green  sward. 
When  at  the  morning  meal  they  raised  their 
eyes  their  magnificent  dining-hall  was  carpeted 
with  the  greenest  grass  and  dotted  with  innu 
merable  clumps  of  rose  bushes,  the  greenness 
of  which  was  almost  obscured  by  the  wealth  of 
roses  covering  each  like  a  closely-fitting 
crown;  all  overlaid  with  innumerable  drops  of 
dew,  which  sparkled  like  so  many  diamonds  in 
the  rays  of  the  morning  sun.  The  delicious 
strawberries  and  blueberries  of  their  morning 
repast  still  had  the  fresh  dews  upon  them. 

In  a  banqueting  hall  most  lovely,  which 
Nature  had  put  forth  her  best  efforts  to  make 
beautiful  and  delicate  and  entrancing,  she  served 
them  with  the  choicest  and  most  delicate  fruits, 
which  she  had  upheaved  from  her  bosom  in  her 
secret  alchemy  of  beauty,  and  which  in  shape, 
coloring,  and  perfume  she  had  exhausted  her 
utmost  efforts  to  make  the  perfection  of  dainti 
ness.  She  seemed  to  be  laboring  to  so  nourish 


THE  OJIBWAY  155 

the  children  who  reclined  all  day  and  all  night 
on  her  bosom  that  they  would  be  refined  from 
all  things  carnal  and  gross;  and  be  as  delicate, 
pure,  and  dainty  as  the  dew-washed  straw 
berries,  midst  dew-washed  rose-bushes  on  which 
she  fed  them.  Her  own  dear  children,  literally 
in  closest  touch  with  her,  reclining  ever  upon 
her  bosom,  and  drinking  in  by  contact  her  sweet 
secret  spirit,  drawing  from  her  breast  in  fruit 
and  flower  the  very  essence  of  her  life — surely 
they  would  be  of  her  own  sweet,  delicate  nature 
and  spirit,  as  much  as  her  tender  flowers  or  her 
stainless  dew. 

One  evening,  about  this  time,  two  middle- 
aged  women  happened  to  meet  in  the  village, 
and  began  to  talk.  One,  Sebiskogunun  (Tough 
Bones),  Sha-bosh-kunk's  mother-in-law,  was 
very  large  and  heavy,  as  Indian  women  of  that 
age  are  apt  to  be.  She  was  without  any  sem 
blance  of  a  waist,  or  any  pretension  to  beauty. 
The  other,  Debusigizhick,  or  Low  Sky  (Sky- 
close-to-her) ,  was  shorter  in  stature  and  smaller 
every  way.  Although  they  called  each  other 
sister,  there  was  a  latent  hostility  between  them 
that  made  it  very  easy  for  a  quarrel  to  arise. 
Besides,  they  were  both  well  fed;  there  was 
plenty  of  flesh  of  all  kinds,  as  well  as  of  wild 
rice,  in  the  village,  not  to  speak  of  strawberries, 
blueberries,  and  all  delicious  summer  fruits; 
and  living  of  the  best,  were  in  fine  fettle.  When 
they  met  in  the  path  they  stopped,  and  Tough 
Bones  said  to  the  other:  " Indeed,  my  sister, 
I  did  not  think  that  of  you.  I  hear  that  you  have 
been  talking  about  me  in  one  of  the  wigwams/' 


156  THE  OJIBWAY 

"Talking  about  you,  have  I?"  replied  Low 
Sky.  "Indeed,  I  have  been  doing  nothing  of 
the  sort.  I  hope  I  shall  have  something  better 
to  talk  about  than  you,  when  I  do  talk.  I  had 
my  fishing  nets  to  attend  to  and  I  think  that  is 
more  profitable  than  talking  about  you. ' ' 

"Well,  my  sister,'7  answered  Tough  Bones, 
with  rising  internal  wrath,  but  forcibly  keeping 
down  her  voice  to  low  tones,  "you  have  been 
talking  about  me,  for  Shaking-flame-of-fire- 
woman  heard  you,  and  she  told  me.  My  sister, 
you  ought  not  to  do  such  a  thing  and  then  deny 
it.  You  should  own  it,  and  say  you  feel  sorry 
for  it." 

"Sorry  for  it?"  said  Low  Sky,  also  with 
rising  wrath;  "what  should  I  be  sorry  about 
what  any  one  said  about  a  big  mass  of  flesh  like 
you?" 

"My  sister,"  said  Tough  Bones,  her  voice 
now  trembling  with  passion,  "you  did  talk  about 
me,  for  you  now  confess  it,  though  you  denied 
it  at  first.  You  should  not  lie,  my  sister.  And 
I  heard  besides  that  the  other  day  when  you 
went  out  to  draw  your  net,  and  I  was  not  there, 
that  because  you  did  not  find  as  many  fish  in 
your  net  as  you  expected  you  secretly  drew  mine, 
and  took  some  fish  out  of  it  and  put  them  in  your 
basket,  and  then  put  my  net  back  into  the  water 
again.  So  it  appears  that  you  are  not  only  a 
liar,  but  a  thief,  my  sister ! ' ' 

"  It  is  not  so, ' '  said  Low  Sky.  * 1 1  am  not  such 
a  good-for-nothing  one  that  I  have  to  go  stealing 
fish  from  any  one;  I  can  get  all  the  fish  I  want 
for  myself." 


THE  OJIBWAY  157 

"Yes,  you  know  you  did,  my  sister, "  replied 
Tough  Bones.  Kichi-ique  (Great  Woman)  saw 
you  and  told  me  about  it.  She  was  behind  a 
bush  coming  down  to  draw  her  net,  and  you  did 
not  see  her.  You  looked  all  about,  it  seems, 
before  you  stole,  to  see  if  anybody  was  watch 
ing;  and  then  when  you  thought  nobody  was 
there  you  did  it.  I  always  knew  you  were  a  thief, 
but  you  ought  to  make  more  sure  that  nobody  is 
watching  you  when  you  do  it,  my  sister. ' ' 

"It  is  a  lie!"  shouted  Low  Sky,  "and  don't 
you  sister  me.  Now  I  '11  tell  you  what  the  people 
all  say  about  you.  They  say  they  are  afraid  to 
have  you  come  into  their  wigwam  and  make  a 
visit,  for  there  is  sure  to  be  something  missing 
when  you  go  out. ' ' 

"They  never  said  such  a  thing,  and  you  are 
making  it  up  yourself,"  replied  Tough  Bones. 

"Well,  I  will  tell  you  the  very  words  they 
said, ' '  replied  Low  Sky,  ' l  and  then  you  will  see 
that  they  did  say  it,  for  I  could  not  make  it  up  of 
myself.  They  say  you  are  such  a  great  hulk  of 
flesh  that  when  you  flop  down  when  you  come  in 
you  cover  half  the  side  of  the  wigwam,  and 
whatever  little  thing  is  under  you  goes  with  you 
when  you  go  out.  That  that  is  the  way  you  take 
—you  gather  up  things  in  your  clothes  and  hide 
them  till  you  go  out.  A  good  many  have  lost 
a  good  deal  by  you,  and  they  are  afraid  to  see 
you  come  in.  I  will  tell  you  just  what  they  say ; 
they  say,  'I  wish  that  old  mountain  of  flesh 
would  keep  out  of  here.' 

"It  is  no  such  thing,"  said  Tough  Bones; 
"you  are  making  that  up." 


158  THE  OJIBWAY 

*  *  Well,  I  am  not  telling  you  what  I  say,  it  is 
what  all  the  people  in  the  village  say  about 
you/' 

"Well,  I  would  rather  be  big,"  returned 
Tough  Bones,  "and  be  good  for  something, 
than  be  a  good-for-nothing  body  like  you.  Now 
I  will  tell  you  what  the  people  say  about  you." 

'  *  What  do  they  say ! ' '  inquired  Low  Sky,  her 
curiosity  to  know  what  was  thought  of  her  get 
ting  the  better  of  her. 

"They  point  at  you  when  you  are  passing; 
through  the  town,  and  say  there  is  the  good-for- 
nothing  woman  who  can  hardly  keep  herself  and 
her  husband  from  starving.  When  all  the  other 
women  in  the  town  gathered  at  least  ten  sacks 
of  rice  apiece  you  had  hardly  two,  and  it  is  just 
so  in  everything;  so  that  now  you  have  become 
a  sort  of  proverb  in  the  town,  and  if  any  one 
is  only  able  to  make  a  little  taste  of  something 
they  say  to  them,  you  are  almost  as  good-for- 
nothing  as  Low  Sky." 

"It  is  a  lie,"  said  Low  Sky.  "I  was  sick  at 
rice-making  time;  that  is  why  I  made  only  two 
sacks;  but  I  am  one  of  the  best  women  in  this 
town." 

"  'One  of  the  best  women  in  this  town/  " 
scornfully  laughed  Tough  Bones;  "just  hear 
her.  The  good-for-nothing  one  says  'Pm  one 
of  the  best  women  in  this  town.'  Ha,  ha,  ha!" 

"Yes,  and  I  am,  too,"  said  Low  Sky,  "even 
if  I  am  not  such  a  big  mountain  of  flesh  as  you." 

"Well,  now,  I  will  tell  you  something  you 
do  not  know,"  said  Tough  Bones;  "but  you 
ought  to  know  it,  and  I  will  tell  you  it  because 


THE  OJIBWAY  159 

I  feel  sorry  for  you.  The  people  do  not  usually 
call  you  Low  Sky ;  but  when  they  see  you  pass 
ing  they  say,  '  there  goes  the  good-for-nothing 


one.' 


'You  lie!"  said  Low  Sky;  "they  do  not  call 
me  any  such  thing." 

"Yes  they  do,"  said  the  other,  "only  some  of 
them  call  you  the  ' two-sack-of -rice  woman.' 
When  they  see  you  passing  along  the  road  they 
nudge  each  other  and  one  says  to  the  other 
secretly,  'here  comes  the  two-sack-of -rice  wo 
man.  '  But  I  call  you  the-woman-that-stole-my- 
fish.  They  are  all  laughing  at  you,  my  sister, 
in  the  town. ' ' 

"It  is  no  such  thing,"  shouted  the  other; 
' '  you  are  making  that  all  up  yourself. ' ' 

"Well,  see  those  men  standing  over  there 
laughing  and  looking  this  way?  It  is  you  they 
are  laughing  at,  so  you  can  see  for  yourself  that 
what  I  tell  you  is  true.  They  are  laughing  at 
the  good-for-nothing  woman ;  the  two-sack  of- 
rice  woman ;  but  I  call  you  the-woman-that-stole- 
my-fish.  When  I  go  somewhere  and  want  to  find 
you  I  ask  the  people,  'have  you  seen  the-woman- 
who-stole-my-fishr  ' 

"Well,  now,  I'll  tell  you  what  they  say  about 
you,"  retorted  Low  Sky,  "and  you  may  ask 
those  men  who  are  laughing  over  there  if  it  is 
not  so." 

"And  what  is  it  they  said?"  said  Tough 
Bones,  her  anxiety  to  know  what  was  said  of 
her  excited  in  turn. 

"They  say  you  are  so  ugly  that  you  can  not 
get  anybody  to  live  with  you,"  said  Low  Sky, 


160  THE  OJIBWAY 

"and  that  is  why  you  do  not  have  any  husband 
now.  They  say  the  way  that  lower  lip  of  yours 
turns  over  and  hangs  down  makes  you  too 
ugly." 

' '  There  is  nothing  of  what  you  say ! ' '  roared 
Tough  Bones;  "they  all  know  I  am  a  splendid 
woman. ' ' 

"  *  Splendid  woman  I'  "  laughed  Low  Sky; 
'  *  that  is  good.  '  Splendid  woman ! '  Ha,  ha,  ha ! 
You  can  see  for  yourself  that  what  I  say  is  true, 
for  all  the  other  women  in  this  town  have  hus 
bands.  You  are  the  only  woman  who  has  not, 
because  you  are  too  ugly/' 

"It  is  not  so!"  screamed  Tough  Bones,  shak 
ing  with  anger.  "I  had  my  first  husband  as 
soon  as  I  was  grown,  and  I  have  never  lacked 
a  husband  since,  for  they  are  all  anxious 
to  get  me  if  there  is  a  vacancy,  because  they 
know  I  am  a  first-class  woman." 

"  'First-class  woman;'  ha,  ha,  ha!"  laughed 
Low  Sky,  "and  that  lip!" 

This  repeated  exasperating  allusion  to  her 
personal  defects  was  too  much  for  Tough  Bones 
to  endure  any  longer,  and  at  this  stage  the  mat 
ter  reached  its  inevitable  conclusion,  for  unable 
any  longer  to  contain  herself  she  rushed  upon 
Low  Sky,  and  the  two  came  together  with  a 
violent  shock.  Each  seized  the  other  with  one 
arm  round  the  neck,  while  the  disengaged  hand 
was  buried  in  the  other's  hair.  By  the  hair  the 
head  of  each  was  pulled  back,  almost  to  breaking 
off  at  the  neck,  as  it  seemed ;  and  plentiful  hand- 
fulls  of  it  were  torn  out  and  scattered  in  the 
wind.  Their  embrace  of  each  other's  neck  was 


THE  OJIBWAY  161 

close  and  choking,  so  that  they  almost  shut  off 
each  other's  breath.  They  turned  round  and 
round,  and  trampled  the  rose-clumps  in  the 
midst  of  which  they  fought,  until  they  made 
a  smooth  and  even  ring,  crushing  the  delicate 
roses  under  their  spurning  and  stamping  feet, 
ejaculating  "eigh-gh!"  so  far  as  their  wind  was 
not  shut  off.  Their  eyes  were  starting  from 
their  heads,  and  every  muscle  and  nerve  was 
strained  to  its  utmost  tension. 

In  the  meantime  the  people  had  all  gathered 
outside  their  wigwams,  and  were  standing 
laughing  at  what  was  a  sort  of  entertainment. 
The  men  were  calling  out,  "The  little  one  is 
going  to  win;"  "The  big  one  is  going  to  beat;" 
"Heigh,  there  was  a  big  handful  of  hair  pulled 
out;"  "See  that!  what  a  yank  she  gave  her  that 
time."  Others  again  brought  out  small  articles 
of  portable  property  which  they  offered  to  bet 
that  the  little  or  the  big  one  would  win. 

Finally  these  volcanic  fires  of  action  burned 
themselves  out,  and  the  two  combatants,  panting 
and  exhausted,  and  unable  to  move  any  more, 
stood  off  from  each  other  a  little  ways,  and  with 
their  breath  and  their  eyes  gave  a  few  parting 
shots  at  each  other;  though  their  breath  came 
in  such  gasps  that  what  they  said  was  indistin 
guishable.  At  last,  with  mien  black  and  threat 
ening  like  two  thunder  clouds,  and  very  dishev 
eled,  and  very  battered  and  torn,  they  drew 
farther  and  farther  apart,  still  facing  each  other, 
until  they  disappeared  in  their  respective  wig 
wams.  But  there  was  no  malice  left  rankling; 
they  had  both  been  spoiling  for  a  fight  and  they 


162  THE  OJIBWAY 

had  had  it.  When  they  met  after  a  day  or  two 
there  was  no  hatred  on  either  part,  hut  rather 
increased  respect  for  each  other's  powers,  if 
not  increased  affection. 

When  they  had  finally  disappeared,  the  men 
who  had  been  spectators  began  to  talk  about  it. 

1  i  That  was  a  heavy  fight, "  observed  Ogema; 
' l  the  biggest  I  have  seen  for  some  days. ' ' 

"I  don't  think  so,"  answered  Good-Sounding- 
Sky.  "I  think  the  fight  evening  before  last 
was  better.  One  pulled  out  most  of  the  other 
woman's  hair." 

"  We  have  plenty  of  fun  now,"  said  Wabijesh 
(The  Marten).  "We  have  such  an  entertain 
ment  as  this  nearly  every  night. ' ' 

"It  does  keep  us  amused,"  replied  Yellow 
Thunder.  " Something  to  make  us  laugh;  it 
helps  to  pass  the  time  away  very  pleasantly. ' ' 

"Oh  there's  no  harm  in  it,"  said  Ogema; 
"they  will  be  just  as  friendly  with  each  other 
the  next  time  they  meet.  It  is  only  because  they 
are  so  full  of  moose-meat  and  venison  and  high 
living  that  they  have  to  work  off  their  surplus 
energy  in  that  way.  They  each  wanted  a  fight 
badly  and  they  got  it. ' ' 

"It  is  something  like  a  colt,"  said  Wabijesh. 
'  *  When  he  is  full  of  the  nice  fresh  grass  in  June 
he  is  bound  to  run  and  kick  and  bite  because  he 
feels  so  well." 

"It  has  been  a  good  thing  for  us,  any  way," 
remarked  Ogema  in  conclusion,  "for  that  was 
a  right  lively  exhibition  they  gave  us  just  now." 
And  with  this  they  dispersed  to  their  homes. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MORE  SUMMER  HAPPINESS. 

While  dew-besprinkled  strawberries,  served 
amidst  dew-besprinkled  roses,  had  the  effect 
related  in  the  last  chapter,  they  seemed  to  excite 
different  sensations  elsewhere.  There  sat  in  a 
wigwam  one  summer's  afternoon  about  this  time 
a  young  man  who,  judging  from  his  words  and 
actions,  had  an  attack  of  the  tender  passion, 
and  had  it  very  severely.  He  was  Nigani-gizhick 
(The-First-Heavens;  that  is  a  number  of  heav 
ens  following  each  other  in  procession  one  after 
the  other— he  was  the  first  heavens  of  all).  He 
was  a  fine,  manly  young  hunter,  handsome  and 
gallant  looking.  Dressed  in  his  deerskin  hunt 
ing  shirt,  breecheloth,  and  moccasins,  he  sat  on 
his  mat  with  his  feet  tucked  in  under  him,  sing 
ing,  and  accompanying  himself  with  the  beating 
of  his  drum.  His  face  was  turned  upward  with 
an  ecstatic  expression  upon  it;  his  mouth,  partly 
open,  gave  vent  to  the  sweet  sounds,  while  his 
body  shook  in  little  rises  and  falls  as  his  song 
proceeded.  Evidently  his  song  pleased  him  very 
much.  He  had  called  in,  besides,  the  divine  art 
of  drawing  to  give  expression  to  his  feelings, 
for  on  a  piece  of  birch-bark  he  had  drawn  a 
rude  figure  (himself)  with  two  arms,  much 
longer  than  the  body,  reaching  to  another  figure 
lying  down  at  a  considerable  distance  from  him. 


164  THE  OJIBWAY 

The  words  he  exultingly  sang  explained  the  pic 
ture  :  * '  Wasawekumig  nebagwen,  whe  ah ;  whe 
he  ah  agaming  nebagwen"  — "  Though  she  sleeps 
a  great  distance  off,  whe-ah,  whe-he-ah;  though 
she  sleeps  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake. ' ' 

This  was  boasting  of  his  success  with  the  fair 
sex,  that  even  if  his  lady-love  slept  ever 
so  far  off,  even  though  she  slept  on  the 
other  side  of  a  lake,  his  arm  was  long 
enough  to  reach  her,  and  even  there  she 
would  hear  his  voice.  The  recumbent  figure 
was  his  lady-love.  His  voice  was  represented 
in  the  picture  by  a  quavering  line  coming 
out  of  his  mouth  and  reaching  to  her ;  his  arms, 
by  two  straight  lines  starting  from  his  shoulders 
and  also  reaching  to  her.  This  chant  he  sang 
over  and  over  again  with  great  exultation,  his 
face  still  directed  upwards,  and  a  joyous  expres 
sion  upon  it.  He  evidently  was  under  the  influ 
ence  of  a  violent  attack  of  love.  After  a  long 
time  thus  spent  in  reiterating  for  the  thousandth 
time  that  though  she  slept  ever  so  far  away,  or 
even  on  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  his  arm  could 
reach  her,  bringing  in  between  the  two  stanzas 
his  whe-ah,  whe-he-ah,  which  syllables  do  not 
have  any  meaning  but  were  simply  an  exulting 
burst  of  confidence,  he  changed  both  the  tune 
and  words,  and  took  another,  still  more  expres 
sive  of  his  power  over  the  affections  of  females 
and  his  anticipated  success.  This  new  chant  was : 
"Minising  ebigwen  ni  giwanadjia  che  bimada- 
gad  minising  ebigwen "—"  Even  though  she 
were  on  an  island  I  make  her  crazy  to 
swim  over  to  me;  even  though  she  were  on  an 


THE  OJIBWAY  165 

island. "  This  chant  seemed  to  delight  him  even 
more  than  the  other,  and  he  sang  it  a  thousand 
times,  recurring  to  it  with  ever-increasing  exul 
tation.  His  mother  was  in  the  wigwam,  busy 
with  her  household  duties,  also  his  sister,  just 
younger  than  himself  and  other  little  brothers 
and  sisters  ranging  down.  These  last  were  very 
much  impressed  with  the  music,  for  they  stopper 
their  play  and  listened  intently,  as  in  a  high 
tenor  voice,  which  could  be  heard  a  long  dis 
tance,  he  thus  proceeded  to  reiterate  his  power 
over  the  inclinations  of  the  fair  sex.  But  his 
mother  remained  entirely  cold  and  unsympa 
thetic. 

i  i  Just  listen  to  the  crazy  man, ' '  she  broke  in, 
still  going  unconcernedly  about  her  work;  "just 
listen  to  him  saying  he  can  make  her  crazy 
enough  to  jump  into  the  water  to  swim  over  to 
him.  She  would  be  crazy  indeed  to  swim  over 
to  such  a  poor  stick.  It  would  be  one  crazy  per 
son,  going  to  another  crazy  person. "  His  little 
brothers  and  sisters  now  broke  out  into  a  te-he- 
he  at  this  sally,  elevating  their  little  dirty  faces 
upwards,  and  opening  their  mouths,  full  of 
pearly  white  teeth.  They  thought  it  was  great 
fun.  His  grown  sister  looked  at  him  and  smiled. 
He  scorned  to  notice  this  interruption,  though 
he  heard  it,  and  answered  by  a  fresh  outburst 
of  vehement  assertion  in  song  that  he  could 
make  her  crazy  to  swim  over  to  him. 

"To  swim  to  a  worthless  coot  who  hasn't  got 
a  meal  of  meat  to  give  her— she  would  be  crazy 
indeed,"  resumed  the  mother,  still  busy  with 
her  work.  Again  a  chorus  of  te-he-he's  from 


166  THE  OJIBWAY 

the  little  ones,  following  in  succession  down  from 
the  biggest,  who  set  the  example,  to  the  smallest, 
who  did  not  understand  what  he  was  laugh 
ing  at. 

"  Every  poor  fellow  now-a-days,"  persisted 
the  mother,  "who  can  not  do  so  much  as  get  him 
self  a  meal  of  victuals,  but  has  to  be  fed  by  his 
parents  like  a  child  with  a  spoon,  has  got  it  into 
his  fool  head  that  he  can  make  the  girls  crazy 
after  him.  It  would  be  better/'  she  went  on, 
raising  her  voice,  ' '  if  you  would  go  out  and  hoe 
a  while  in  that  potato  patch,  instead  of  your  fool 
singing  here  about  girls  crazy  after  you." 
Again  the  interruption  was  calmly  ignored,  and 
there  was  a  renewed  burst  about  swimming  over 
from  the  island. 

"You  will  be  coming  to  me  next  winter,  when 
you  are  starving,"  said  the  mother,  "asking  me 
for  a  cold  potato ;  and  then  all  this  fool  nonsense 
will  be  out  of  you.  It  is  only  because  you  are 
filled  with  mose-meat  and  deer-meat  now  that 
you  have  such  fool  thoughts  about  girls  crazy 
after  you.  By  and  by,  when  that  stuffing  gets 
out  of  you,  you  will  be  as  limp  as  a  rag."  Still 
the  music  went  on  in  lofty  disdain. 

"And  it  was  your  father  hunted  it  for  you," 
she  persisted,  "for  you  are  too  lazy  to  hunt  for 
yourself.  In  the  pot  is  the  only  place  where  you 
hunt.  The  lazier  a  fellow  is  the  more  certain 
he  is  to  have  fool  thoughts  come  into  his  head 
about  making  girls  crazy."  Here  came  in  an 
other  titter  from  the  children. 

UI  think  I  will  tell  your  father  not  to  feed  you 
any  more,  but  just  let  you  hunt  for  yourself, 


THE  OJIBWAY  167 

and  then  you  will  not  have  time  to  deafen  me 
with  your  singing.  If  he  continues  to  feed  you 
as  high  as  he  does  it  is  I  that  will  be  crazy  listen 
ing  to  you,  and  not  the  girls. " 

Thus  the  running  fire  on  the  one  hand  and 
the  chanting  on  the  other  went  on.  The  young 
hunter  felt  the  shots,  but  appeared  to  answer 
them  only  by  a  calm  disdain.  When  his  mother 
had  said  her  mind  out,  there  was  silence  on  her 
part,  and  he,  as  if  to  show  that  he  had  not  been 
wounded,  still  kept  on  with  his  song.  At  last, 
however,  when  evening  approached,  he  laid 
aside  his  drum,  and,  getting  a  small  looking 
glass,  about  as  large  as  one's  hand— something 
that  was  very  precious  in  those  days — proceeded 
to  inspect  himself.  Then  he  got  out  some  paint 
and  proceeded  to  paint  his  face  very  carefully. 
There  was  evidently  something  on  his  mind. 

When  night  fell  he  went  out,  taking  with  him 
a  rustic  flute,  made  by  himself,  and  directed  his 
steps  toward  a  certain  wigwam  in  the  other  part 
of  the  village;  that  of  Ogema.  In  that  there 
dwelt  a  comely  young  woman,  with  her  father, 
and  younger  brothers  and  sisters.  Soon,  from  a 
distance,  there  came  into  the  wigwam  the  sound 
of  a  flute;  a  few  low  but  pleasing  notes.  The 
young  woman  seemed  to  know  from  whom  those 
notes  came,  for  she  looked  interested.  Then  the 
music  ceased,  but  by  and  by  sprang  up  from  an 
other  quarter.  There  seemed  to  be  some  one 
hovering  around  that  wigwam  playing  on  the 
flute.  At  first  the  music  was  far  off,  but  it  kept 
drawing  nearer,  though  in  circles.  The  circles 


LOVE  SONG  — Ojibway. 

Very  tlow  and  free. 

— t^:-C3 — I— 

^^=fc=rf 


Transcribed  and  harmonized 
by  EDWIN  S.  TKACY. 


&^&iji&=£ 

L~tZ & f P-^ 


to  -  night will  come,     sis  -  ter,  to  -  night ; 


3J- —       f 

^~  ^^|7       .. 


- ' '- 


S-4 1 — f=^-\ — I 3-p^ — ^ .—i . — :_, 

^=£='-^='=f=.t=i=^^~^=^^ 
^    '=*±j=.<^  f.-.EI.-d^r:-:- 

I          to-night    will  come,  sweetheart,  to  -  night.      What  will  my 

I  I.    I 


sis-ter  think  of  me?  My  sister  think  of  me  ?    I  will  come  to-night, 


r  T 

While  it     yet   is  light,      I  will  see  my  sweetheart  to  -  night. 

/?> 

_P""        •••  I 

KS"? i* — * — (^  — *"  •  ^TH— — 


—    *    m  -75 — r"^ — i — ' — i"  ~LC.S"I~   nil 

Ej 


^— * 


•*-  ! 


THE  OJIBWAY  169 

were  converging  toward  that  wigwam.  There 
was  not  only  music,  but  at  intervals  a  song.  The 
words  were  these : 

"Nln  ga  bl-dagulshln  oshki  tlblkuk ;  nln  ga-gaguedjlma  nindanguc 
oshki  tiblkuk  ;  nin  ga  bl  daguishin  nongom  che  oshki  tibikuk  ; 
namundj  win  ged-inendumogwen  nindangue ;  ni  wi  wabuma 
nlnimoshe  nongom  che  oshki  tibikudinig." 

"I  shall  come  in  the  early  night ;  I  shall  ask  my  sister  a  question 
In  the  early  light ;  I  shall  come  to-day  in  the  beginning  of 
the  night ;  I  wonder  what  my  sister  will  think  about  it ;  I 
Intend  to  see  my  sweetheart  this  day  in  the  early  part  of  her 
night." 

The  father  occasionally  talked  with  some  of 
the  younger  children,  and  so  did  not  hear  all  of 
it,  for  he  was  not  paying  much  attention.  Still 
it  came  to  the  notice  of  all  in  the  wigwam  that 
there  was  a  song  somewhere,  and  a  singer. 
Finally  the  skin  covering  of  the  wigwam 
entrance  was  pulled  aside,  and  a  stalwart  young 
hunter  appeared. 

Had  Ogema  been  very  glad  to  see  him  he 
would  have  said  when  the  hunter  appeared  in 
the  door,  "Nind  ubimin  nind  ubimin"  ("We  are 
at  home,  we  are  at  home"),  a  welcome  equiva 
lent  to  "Come  in,  come  in,"  but  he  said  nothing. 
However,  as  very  frequently  nothing  is  said 
when  a  guest  comes  in,  who  yet  is  welcome,  the 
hunter,  taking  no  notice  of  the  silence  on  the 
father's  part,  took  a  hasty  glance  around  the 
wigwam,  then  stepped  quickly  in  and  went  and 
reclined  on  the  mat  by  the  side  of  his  lady 
love. 

There  was  now  a  period  of  perfect  silence. 
The  father  looked  musingly  in  the  fire.  By  and 
by  the  younger  children  went  to  sleep  one  by 
one,  covering  up  their  heads  in  their  blankets, 


170  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  lying  stretched  out  with  their  feet  towards 
the  heat  like  so  many  little  mummies.  The 
young  hunter  and  the  girl  were  also  perfectly 
silent,  awaiting  the  time  when  the  father  also 
should  have  covered  himself  in  his  blanket,  head 
and  all,  and  gone  to  sleep.  The  fire  was  by  this 
time  burning  very  low,  creating  a  darkness  in 
the  wigwam  which  was  very  favorable  and 
desirable,  and  all  that  was  needed  was  that  the 
father  should  lie  down  and  become  oblivious. 
To  the  disgust  of  both,  however,  just  as  they 
thought  he  was  about  to  do  so  he  seized  a  fresh 
stick  of  dry  wood  and  thrust  it  into  the  fire. 
Immediately  the  flame  leaped  up,  making  every 
thing  in  that  wagwam  as  light  as  day,  and  ren 
dering  utterly  impossible  the  tender  love  passes 
which  ought  then  to  have  been  exchanged  be 
tween  the  hunter  and  his  dear  one.  The  young 
man  thought,  "This  is  certainly  bad  enough, 
that  that  old  fellow  should  make  it  so  light  in 
the  wigwam  just  when  everything  else  is  favora 
ble  ;  but  this  is  a  small  stick  and  will  soon  burn 
out,  and  then  surely  he  will  lie  down."  So  he 
waited  very  patiently,  and  the  old  man  did 
indeed  lav  back,  and  he  thought  that  everything 
was  going  to  go  well  at  last. 

When,  however,  the  stick  had  burned  out,  and 
it  was  once  more  becoming  dark,  the  old  man 
raised  himself  to  a  sitting  posture,  and  taking 
a  fresh  stick  gave  it  a  wicked  thrust  into  the 
fire.  As  a  shower  of  sparks  rose  and  a  blaze 
flooded  the  wigwam  with  light,  he  gave  a  vicious 
look  at  his  visitor,  as  much  as  to  say,  "What 
do  you  think  of  that?"  This  was  discouraging 


THE  OJIBWAY  171 

to  an  ardent  lover,  to  be  sure;  one  just  on  the 
threshold  of  golden  opportunity.  But  he  was 
resolved  not  to  be  balked.  He  was  resolved 
that  his  patience  should  gain  the  victory.  There 
fore  he  remained  in  enforced  silence,  waiting 
for  the  fire  once  more  to  die  down  and  the  old 
man  to  go  to  sleep.  He  was  just  listening  for 
some  gentle  snores,  or  some  deep  breathings  that 
would  tell  him  that  now  at  last  all  was  well,  and 
was  congratulating  himself  that  it  was  getting 
sufficiently  dark,  when  suddenly  once  more  sat 
up  that  wretched  old  man,  and  once  more  thrust 
a  stick  into  the  fire,  and  once  again  the  wigwam 
was  as  light  as  day.  No  chance  for  any  courting 
in  such  a  light  as  that.  And  the  look  the  old 
man  once  more  gave  him,  as  he  thrust  in  the 
stick  and  the  light  streamed  up,  plainly  said 
again,  "Now,  what  do  you  think  of  that?"  Was 
there  ever  a  young  man  so  vilely  used ! 

With  a  look  of  unutterable  disgust  on  his  face 
he  lay  there  thinking  of  what  to  do.  The  young 
woman  was  evidently  very  responsive.  He  had 
spent  much  time  painting  himself,  and  had  spent 
the  whole  day  thinking  about  this  meeting,  hence 
he  was  very  loath  to  give  it  up.  In  fact  it  seemed 
to  him  he  could  not  bear  to  rise  and  go  away, 
and  nothing  pass  between  him  and  his  beloved. 
He  felt  mad  enough  to  rise  and  murder  that  old 
man  who  spoiled  everything.  He  lay  there,  one 
minute  looking  at  the  girl,  then  at  the  pile  of 
wood,  to  see  how  many  sticks  were  left,  and  how 
long  it  could  hold  out;  then  at  the  author  of  his 
woes.  Then  suddenly  starting  up  at  last  with 
a  bound,  as  he  realized  by  a  hasty  mental  calcu- 


172  THE  OJIBWAY 

lation  that  there  were  enough  sticks  of  wood 
there  to  keep  that  wigwam  light  till  morning, 
and  that  the  old  man  was  mean  enough  to  sit 
up  all  night  to  do  it,  he  flounced  out  of  the  place, 
and  as  he  went  out  with  a  bound  like  a  tiger,  the 
word  "Akiwenzish!"— "  miserable,  wretched 
old  man ! ' '  —was  hissed  from  between  his  set 
te-eth.  He  told  his  young  companions  after 
wards  that  he  had  got  everything  perfectly  fa 
vorable,  but  that  he  had  been  ruined  by  excess 
of  light! 

About  this  time  there  arrived  in  the  village 
an  object  of  great  interest  in  the  shape  of  a  boy 
of  twelve  years.  He  came  from  the  village  of 
Leech  Lake,  distant  two  days'  journey. 
Thoughts  of  triumph  swelled  his  little  breast  as 
he  came.  As  he  traveled  the  lonely  path  through 
the  great  pines  he  kept  thinking  what  a  sensa 
tion  he  would  make;  and  when  he  was  resting 
in  his  little  camp  at  night,  after  the  day's  travel, 
his  thoughts  were  still  of  the  same.  Indeed,  he 
had  undertaken  that  long  journey  just  on  pur 
pose  to  reap  a  triumph.  Nor  was  he  disap 
pointed.  In  every  wigwam  he  entered  he  was 
hailed  with  a  shout  of  mingled  curiosity  and 
approval  as  soon  as  he  was  seen,  and  every  eye, 
from  the  father's  and  mother's  to  the  smallest 
toddler,  was  instantly  directed  to  him.  They 
crowded  around  him  to  see  and  to  touch  with 
their  hands  the  object  of  their  admiration;  and 
many  a  commendation  was  bestowed  on  him  as 
the  wearer  of  it.  "Is  not  that  splendid?"  said 
the  mother,  stroking  it  lovingly  with  her  hands ; 
"and  is  not  he  a  splendid  little  man?"  "Who 


THE  OJIBWAY  173 

made  it  for  you?"  was  the  next  question;  and 
the  object  of  all  this  admiration  proudly  ans 
wered  that  it  was  his  mother.  "Oh,  you  are 
already  greater  than  a  chief,"  said  the  father 
to  the  proud  little  man,  whose  breast  was  just 
swelling;  "none  of  them  have  such  a  thing. 
You  are  almost  equal  to  a  white  man,  for  they 
wear  such  things." 

Here  the  little  naked  children,  by  this  time 
growing  bolder,  came  forward  to  stroke  the 
coveted  article  with  their  chubby  fingers,  and 
some  of  them  to  give  it  a  gentle  pluck.  When 
the  boy  had  reaped  the  full  chorus  of  admiration 
in  that  wigwam  he  went  into  the  next,  from' 
which,  at  his  entrance,  the  same  shout  of  delight 
would  arise.  No  modern  belle,  in  her  beauti 
fully-made  clothes,  reaped  such  a  harvest  of 
admiration,  or  excited  so  much  admiring  in 
terest. 

It  was  a  shirt  that  he  wore.  There  he  was,  in 
his  moccasins,  his  bare  legs  and  thighs  and  his 
bare  head,  but  wearing  a  shirt  of  white  calico, 
the  first  that  any  Indian  child  had  been  seen  to 
wear.  His  mother  had  got  the  material  from 
a  trader  and  made  him  a  shirt.  He  felt  so  proud 
of  it  that  after  exhausting  the  admiration  of  the 
children  and  grown-up  people  in  his  own  village, 
he  sighed  for  new  worlds  to  conquer ;  and  volun 
tarily  undertook  the  long  journey,  all  by  him 
self,  to  distant  Gull  Lake,  to  be  a  conquering 
hero  there.  He  did  not  need  to  proclaim  his 
dignity— to  show  himself  anywhere  was  enough. 

One  of  the  men  asked  him,  ' '  And  what  is  your 
father's  name,  little  boy!"  He  proudly  ans- 


174  THE  OJIBWAY 

wered  that  Kichi-nodin  (Big  Wind),  of  Leech 
Lake,  was  his  father.  He  went  home  fairly 
filled  with  praise  and  admiration.  He  had  made 
an  appearance  such  as  no  child  had  since  the 
beginning  of  the  world.  Other  children  at  the 
most  had  the  blanket  or  a  shirt  of  tanned  deer 
skin;  but  a  real  calico  shirt  till  now,  never! 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

COMING  HOME  TO  BOOST. 

One  day,  in  the  height  of  all  this,  a  young 
girl  burst  hastily  into  Ogema's  wigwam,  sud 
denly  removing  the  leather  flap. 

"Look,  now,"  said  she  in  a  tone  of  alarm, 
"what  I  have  found, "  holding  up  something, 
which  on  examination  appeared  to  be  only  a 
piece  of  an  old  worn-out  moccasin.  "I  was 
going  down  to  the  water  to  fill  my  jar,  and,  look 
ing  under  a  bush  a  little  ways  off  I  saw  this. 
Now  what  is  it?"  Instantly  Ogema  and  all 
in  the  wigwam  dropped  their  several  employ 
ments  and  scrutinized  that  old  moccasin  with 
the  utmost  intensity  of  every  faculty. 

"No  Ojibway  ever  made  that  beadwork  on  the 
top  of  that  moccasin,"  said  an  old  woman,  the 
first  to  speak.  "I  have  made  thousands  of  them, 
and  I  ought  to  know."  Then,  as  the  full  truth 
flashed  upon  her,  "That  is  a  Sioux  moccasin!" 
she  screamed  "Mamiqueg"— Sioux  women— 
"certainly  made  that  moccasin.  Look,"  she 
said,  "that  turn  to  the  beadwork  is  different 
from  ours;  and  there  again  that  kind  of  orna 
mentation,"  pointing  to  that  on  the  flap  that 
went  round  the  ankle— "we  never  make.  Roas 
ters!"  she  screamed  again;  "there  are  Roasters 
about!  alas,  alas!" 

Here  the  elder  women  darted  out  of  the  wig- 


176  THE  OJIBWAY 

warn  as  if  they  were  possessed,  and  rushed  into 
those  of  their  nearest  relatives  to  tell  them  the 
fearful  news.  "Bebamash"  -The-one-who- 
sails-all-aronnd— "was  going  down  to  the  lake 
for  water  this  morning, "  they  screamed,  "and 
she  found  a  Sioux  moccasin  on  the  edge  of  our 
village,  and  we  have  all  examined  it  and  we  are 
sure  it  is  Sioux.  They  are  certainly  around  us 
and  spying  us  out,  and  there  is  no  telling  when 
they  will  make  an  attack. " 

Almost  instantly  the  chill  of  death  fell  upon 
that  village.  The  drums  ceased,  the  people  ran 
hurriedly  together,  mothers  darted  out  into  the 
edge  of  the  village  and  caught  up  their  children 
who  were  playing  there,  and  shudderingly  press 
ing  them  to  their  bosoms  ran  to  their  homes. 
There  they  seated  themselves  by  the  fire,  pond 
ering  it  with  an  expression  of  deep  anxiety  upon 
their  faces,  ' '  Now  see  that  you  do  not  leave  this 
wigwam, "  they  said  to  the  older  children. 
"There  are  Sioux  about,  and  you  will  certainly 
be  scalped;  see  that  you  keep  within;  now  mind 
what  I  have  told  you."  It  required  no  second 
warning,  for  the  terror  of  death  had  fallen  even 
upon  the  children.  Even  those  who  were  too 
young,  as  it  seemed,  to  comprehend,  hushed  their 
wailing,  and  with  their  little  hands  clung  con 
vulsively  to  their  mother's  breasts,  as  if  in  some 
way  the  contagion  of  terror  had  made  itself 
manifest  to  them.  Over  the  whole  village,  but 
a  moment  before  so  careless  and  happy,  terror 
hung  like  a  pall. 

By  this  time  the  elders,  the  men  especially,  in 
stinctively  crowded  together  in  the  centre  of 


THE  OJIBWAY  177 

their  village  to  consult  over  this  alarming  news 
and  to  consider  what  was  to  be  done.  They  had 
no  fear  of  instant  attack,  knowing  that  their 
enemies  were  too  prudent  to  choose  the  broad 
daylight  for  that;  but  it  was  more  appaling  to 
think  that  it  must  fall  in  the  darkness  and  terror 
of  the  night,  or  at  day-break. 

"The  finding  of  the  Sioux  moccasin  just  con 
firms  a  thing  that  I  saw, ' '  said  a  young  hunter. 
* '  I  was  out  looking  for  deer  yesterday  at  a  cer 
tain  place,  when  I  saw,  some  distance  off,  an  In 
dian.  I  looked  at  him  a  while,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  I  did  not  know  him.  So  I  halloed  to  him, 
and  he  turned  and  looked  at  me,  but  instead  of 
coming  toward  me  or  returning  my  halloo,  he 
dodged  into  the  brush.  I  thought  it  strange  at 
the  time,  but  now  it  appears  he  was  one  of  those 
Sioux. " 

"Yes,"  said  Yellow  Thunder,  "when  I  was 
walking  through  the  woods  half  a  day's  journey 
from  here  a  few  days  ago— I  knew  that  I  was  in 
a  place  where  none  of  our  people  had  been  lately, 
for  I  knew  all  the  parties  who  had  gone  hunting, 
and  none  of  them  had  gone  in  that  direction— to 
my  surprise  I  came  on  a  blackened  spot  of  earth 
where  a  fire  had  been  made  within  a  few  days. 
There  were  some  of  the  ends  of  the  sticks  lying 
there  unburnt.  I  wondered  then  who  could  have 
been  there,  but  now  it  is  plain.  And  the  ground 
around  the  fire  looked  as  if  men  had  slept  there, 
for  the  tall  weeds  and  grass  were  still  somewhat 
flattened." 

While  they  were  still  in  consultation,  a  hunter 
who  had  been  gone  over  night  arrived  and 


178  THE  OJIBWAY 

.  i. 

joined  them.  "Be  on  your  guard, "  he  said, 
"there  are  Sioux  about.  This  morning  I  had 
forded  the  stream  over  there,  pointing  in  a 
southerly  direction,  and  was  sitting  in  the  long 
grass  drying  my  feet  and  putting  on  my  moc 
casins,  when  looking  up  I  saw  eight  men  crossing 
the  stream  some  distance  down  below.  I  looked 
at  them  some  time,  and  thought  to  myself,  'who 
on  earth  can  these  be?'  for  I  did  not  think  any 
hunters  were  out  in  that  direction,  when  sud 
denly  it  came  over  me  that  they  were  Sioux.  I 
instantly  threw  my  body  flat  on  my  legs  as  I  sat, 
and  they  never  saw  me,  for  I  was  hidden  by  the 
grass.  If  they  had,  I  would  not  be  here  now  to 
tell  it.  I  lay  perfectly  still  till  they  took  up  their 
march  in  single  file  through  the  meadow  by  the 
side  of  the  river,  where  they  disappeared  into 
the  woods.  So  be  sure,  men,  that  you  will  have 
a  visit  from  those  fellows  before  long. ' ' 

They  now  consulted  together  as  to  what  was 
to  be  done.  What  they  wished  to  do  was  to  go 
and  find  them  and  meet  them  openly,  man  to 
man.  But  this  they  knew  was  the  very  thing 
that  their  enemies  would  not  allow  them  to  do. 
They  knew  they  had  come  to  take  them  at  a  dis 
advantage  ;  to  strike  a  sudden  blow  in  an  unpro 
tected  quarter;  to  choose  their  own  time  and 
place ;  to  kill  as  many  of  them  as  possible  by  a 
sudden  rush,  and  then  withdraw  before  the  Ojib 
ways  had  time  to  assemble  to  repel  them,  suffer 
ing  no  loss  themselves.  In  a  word,  they  had 
come  to  practice  against  the  Ojibways  the  very 
same  tactics  which  the  Ojibways  had  so  lately 
successfully  employed  against  them. 


THE  OJIBWAY  179 

They  could  hover  round  the  village;  appear 
now  on  this  side,  now  on  that;  while  they  them 
selves,  hidden  by  the  leafy  screen  of  the  woods, 
could  not  even  be  seen.  And  even  if  moment 
arily  seen  by  the  Ojibways,  they  could  instantly 
dive  into  the  thick  underbrush  and  become  in 
visible.  Thus  they  held  over  the  heads  of  the 
helpless  Ojibways  a  sword  suspended  as  long  as 
they  pleased ;  to  fall  whenever  they  desired. 

The  Ojibways  were  sensible  that  they  were  thus 
placed  at  the  mercy  of  their  enemies;  helpless, 
unable  to  ward  off  the  impending  blow ;  and  it 
aroused  reflections  in  their  minds.  It  gave  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  an  opportunity  to  exult  himself,  and 
to  depress  Yellow  Thunder,  upon  whom  he 
looked  with  no  friendly  eyes. 

"My  friends/'  he  said,  "you  ought  to  have 
listened  to  me  when  I  told  you  that  Yellow  Thun 
der 's  expedition  would  bring  a  return  visit  of 
the  Sioux.  Here  we  are  now,  afraid,  and  in  a 
bad  fix.  We  can  not  find  these  Sioux,  for  no 
one  can  find  them  in  the  leafy  underbrush  where 
they  hide.  They  can  strike  us  whenever  they 
please,  and  not  till  they  please ;  and  we  can  not 
prepare  to  meet  it,  for  we  do  not  know  where 
they  will  strike.  We  can  not  go  hunting,  for  the 
hunters  may  suddenly  come  on  those  fellows  and 
be  killed ;  and  besides,  we  want  to  stay  at  home 
and  defend  our  families.  So  we  shall  soon  be 
hungry.  The  flesh  we  have  got  in  this  village 
will  not  last  very  long.  And  the  scalps  of  some 
of  our  children  will  be  dangling  at  those  fellows' 
girdles,  it  seems  likely,  before  they  reach  home, 
for  they  are  not  the  sort  of  men  to  come  up  all 


180  THE  OJIBWAY 

this  distance  and  go  back  for  nothing.  So  it 
seems  to  me  we  are  in  a  bad  fix— about  to  suffer 
and  yet  placed  in  such  a  position  that  we  cannot 
avert  it,  and  it  all  grows  out  of  Yellow  Thun 
der  's  war-party.  If  you  had  listened  to  me, 
men,  we  would  still  be  as  joyful  as  we  were  an 
hour  ago.  And  our  children  would  be  safe,  in 
stead  of  being,  as  they  now  are,  at  the  mercy  of 
those  devils. ' ' 

Here  Yellow  Thunder  interposed.  "You  need 
not  blame  me,  men,  for  this,  and  there  is  nothing 
in  what  Sha-bosh-kunk  has  now  said  to  you.  I 
am  not  the  only  one  who  has  been  killing  Sioux 
this  summer.  'The  Sioux '  has  been  killing 
them,  and  The-Berry-Picker  and  others.  Even 
if  I  had  not  gone,  would  not  these  war  parties 
have  drawn  them  on  us  just  the  same?  I  went 
to  perform  the  last  rites  of  honor  to  my  dead 
child,  and  it  was  a  good  motive ;  and  would  not 
any  of  you  have  done  just  the  same!  Any  of 
you  that  are  men  would.  Why  does  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  single  me  out  as  the  cause  of  the  fix  we  are 
in  now!  My  friends,  have  not  we  always  been 
killing  Sioux,  as  far  back  as  any  of  us  can  re 
member;  and  farther  than  any  of  our  fathers 
even  can  remember!  And  for  my  part  I  believe 
that  if  no  Ojibway  had  killed  a  Sioux  this  year 
the  Sioux  would  come  against  us  just  the  same ; 
for  it  has  become  an  ingrained  habit  with  them 
to  go  looking  for  us  in  summer,  and  to  take  our 
scalps  if  they  can,  just  as  it  is  an  ingrained  habit 
in  us  to  go  looking  for  them,  and  take  their 
scalps.  Therefore  I  do  not  think  it  is  right  for 


THE  OJIBWAY  181 

a  man  to  hold  me  up  to  odium  for  this  thing,  as 
has  been  done. ' ' 

Runners  were  now  hastily  sent  to  warn  stray 
hunters  who  might  be  out,  and  to  bring  into  the 
village  individual  families  who  had  pitched  their 
lodges  at  some  distance.  Guns  were  cleaned 
and  put  in  order,  and  knives  sharpened.  The 
children  were  warned  to  play  in  the  centre  of  the 
village,  and  by  no  means  to  go  beyond  its  verge. 
So  everything  that  prudence  could  dictate  was 
done,  to  get  ready  for  the  impending  blow. 

A  feeling  of  deep  anxiety  and  dread  now  took 
possession  of  the  village.  Joy  was  banished. 
The  singing  of  the  women,  the  shouts  of  the  chil 
dren  at  play,  were  no  more  to  be  heard.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  sun  no  longer  shone  as  it  did  be 
fore,  and  that  even  the  very  birds  had  ceased  to 
sing.  Nature  herself  seemed  to  be  affected  with 
the  dumb  terror  which  possessed  them,  and  to  be 
waiting  for  the  dreadful  war-whoop  to  burst 
forth.  When  the  women  went  to  the  lake  shore 
for  water,  they  cast  uneasy,  nervous  glances  all 
around ;  prepared  to  run  screaming  any  instant. 
But  night  was  the  worst.  They  did  not  know 
but  their  enemies  might  be  peeping  into  their 
wigwams  from  the  darkness  outside.  They  did 
not  know  when  the  bullets  might  rain  in  where 
they  sat.  Every  man  sat  with  his  gun  in  his 
hand,  and  when  nature  overcame  him,  and  he 
snatched  fitful  sleep,  it  was  with  his  gun  still  en 
folded  in  his  arms.  The  children  were  for  the 
most  part  put  far  out  in  the  lake  in  canoes  to 
sleep,  that  if  their  parents  fell  a  sacrifice  they  at 
least  might  be  out  of  reach. 


182  THE  OJIBWAY 

But  at  daybreak,  and  just  before,  was  the 
time  when  the  suspense  was  the  most  terrible. 
Every  morning  before  that  time  they  were  all 
awake  and  expecting  the  attack.  Then  when  the 
sun  got  high  it  was  a  relief  to  know  that  the  dan 
ger  was  over  for  that  time,  though  not  removed, 
and  the  tired  warriors  dropped  off  to  sleep. 

So  the  days  dragged  on;  but  the  long-contin 
ued  suspense  was  wearing  and  terrible.  Often 
they  said,  ' '  Oh,  I  wish  they  would  rush  in  upon 
us  and  do  whatever  they  are  going  to  do  and  be 
done  with  it!  I  would  rather  they  would  kill 
half  of  us  and  be  off,  and  have  it  over,  than  have 
it  hanging  over  our  heads  in  this  way.  Any 
thing  rather  than  this  dreadful  suspense. ' 9 

During  the  daytime  scouting  parties  of  armed 
men  were  sent  around  the  village  into  the  woods 
to  see  if  they  could  discover  anything  of  them. 
To  add  to  their  sufferings,  hunger  now  invaded 
them,  as  the  supply  of  meat  began  to  be  ex 
hausted.  The  rude  scaffolds  in  front  of  each 
door,  which  had  hung  so  thick  with  strips  of 
meat  of  all  kinds  drying  in  the  air,  were  bare. 
The  little  children  could  be  heard  crying  from 
hunger  in  nearly  every  wigwam.  The  hunters 
were  afraid  to  go  in  search  of  meat,— for  they 
knew  that  if  they  went  their  enemies  were  watch 
ing  every  movement  and  would  very  likely  cut 
them  off.  The  abundance  of  Summer  ceased, 
even  though  they  were  in  the  midst  of  abun 
dance,  and  men  and  women  began  to  have  a  hun 
gry  and  pinched  look.  The  little  children  were 
so  puny  that  they  no  longer  had  spirit  to  play. 
The  community  was  now  reduced  to  fish  alone, 


THE  OJIBWAY  183 

and  when  the  women  went  to  draw  and  set  their 
nets  in  the  lake,  an  armed  guard  of  men  had  to 
go  with  them. 

Thus  the  dreadful  days  passed,  till  at  last, 
when  they  were  wearied  out  with  the  long-con 
tinued  watching,  at  daybreak  one  morning  the 
blow  fell.  The  war-whoop  resounded  through 
their  village,  the  sound  of  guns  reverberated 
among  the  hills  in  the  still  morning  air,  and  the 
birds  flew  away  scared.  A  rain  of  bullets  fell 
among  the  nodding  inmates  of  one  wigwam,  and 
almost  as  soon  as  the  bullets,  there  were  the 
fierce  Sioux  warriors,  knife  and  tomahawk  in 
hand,  among  them,  stabbing,  killing,  scalping. 
Quickly  the  reeking  scalps  were  torn  off,  and 
before  the  warriors  from  the  other  parts  of  the 
village  could  grasp  their  arms  and  hurry  to  the 
spot,  they  were  back  in  the  bush  and  had  escaped. 
They  were  sought,  of  course,  but  in  vain,  for 
lying  under  the  thick  canopy  of  leaves  by  day 
and  traveling  by  the  stars  by  night,  they  were 
soon  out  of  danger  in  the  boundless  forest. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

A  STROKE  OP  GENIUS. 

After  this  startling  episode  in  its  history,  the 
village  of  Gull  Lake  gradually  settled  down  to  its 
normal  life,  and  things  went  on  very  much  as 
they  had  done  before.  The  hunters  again  went 
wherever  they  wished,  without  fear ;  the  women 
and  children  went  berrying— the  shade  was 
lifted  and  security  returned.  The  scalped  dead 
were  buried,  their  relatives  wailed  for  them  for 
a  time,  then  they  were  forgotten.  There  was  a 
feeling  of  hot  anger  and  resentment  against  the 
Sioux.  But  was  it  not  a  most  blessed  thing  to 
be  rid  of  them?  To  have  that  accursed  night 
mare  of  their  presence,  which  had  hung  over 
them  so  long,  removed!  To  be  able  to  lie  down 
and  sleep  in  sweet  security  when  night  came, 
with  no  apprehension  of  beings  with  the  energy 
of  demons  bursting  in  on  them  at  the  dawn? 
To  have  no  necessity  of  sleeping  with  arms,  the 
weapon  always  ready  to  grasp?  To  have  no 
constant  necessity  of  watchfulness  whenever 
they  took  a  step  abroad?  To  have  their  little 
children  peacefully  sleeping  with  them,  instead 
of  moored  out  in  the  lake  in  canoes'?  Oh  this 
change  was  unspeakably  blessed !  Even  as  one 
of  themselves,  who  had  been  long  racked  with 
pain  and  been  sick  nigh  unto  death,  felt  the  calm 
bliss  of  returning  health,  and  enjoyed  a  rapture 


THE  OJIBWAY  185 

that  he  who  had  never  been  sick  could  not  know, 
so  it  was  with  them.  The  song  of  the  fearless 
hunter  was  once  more  heard  from  afar,  as  with 
firm  step  he  went  in  and  out  among  the  green 
openings. 

About  this  time  the  first  lucifer  matches  that 
had  ever  been  seen  were  brought  to  their  village 
from  a  distant  French  trader,  and  were  an  oc 
casion  of  unbounded  wonderment  to  them. 
Matches  were  high  in  those  days,  a  small  box 
costing  in  that  place  fifty  cents.  They  could  not 
therefore  be  very  reckless  in  the  expenditure  of 
them.  Occasionally  one  would  be  scratched 
among  a  group,  especially  in  the  dark,  and  held 
forth  for  a  marvel.  Until  that  time  they  had, 
like  the  whites,  made  fire  by  the  flint  and  steel ; 
or  by  their  own  older  method  of  friction  by  rap 
idly  rubbing  two  sticks  together. 

Among  others  who  saw  this  wonderful  phe 
nomenon  of  fire  spontaneously— as  it  seemed— 
produced  was  Sha-bosh-kunk.  It  created  in 
him,  as  in  all  the  others,  first  astonishment,  al 
most  incredulity  that  such  a  thing  could  be,  de 
spite  the  evidence  of  his  senses.  Then,  as  he 
long  pondered  it,  he  seemed  to  have  caught  a 
great  idea.  What  that  was  he  did  not  tell,  but  it 
was  evidently  something  that  pleased  him  might 
ily.  He  became  hilarious,  and  sometimes  he 
would  burst  out  in  a  joyous,  high-pitched  chant, 
as  if  the  pleasantness  of  the  idea  within  needed 
a  vent  in  that  way.  Even  at  night,  when  turning 
over  on  his  mat,  he  would  let  out  war-whoops. 
Something  evidently  tickled  him  immensely,  and 
he  occasionally  even  talked  about  it  to  himself 


186  THE  OJIBWAY 

in  an  incoherent  way.  "Oh  these  are  dull 
clods, "  he  would  say,  surveying  his  fellow-In 
dians;  "they  know  nothing,  and  they  have  no 
genius.  They  seem  to  have  minds  and  souls,  but 
in  reality  they  have  not  any.  They  are  able  to 
walk  about,  it  is  true,  pretending  that  they  are 
alive,  but  really  there  is  no  life  in  them.  There 
is  no  spark  of  genius  such  as  I  feel  in  myself, 
and  they  never  would  conceive  nor  carry  out 
what  my  genius  readily  enables  me  to  do.  They 
are  to  be  pitied,  for  the  are  poor,  and  will  al 
ways  remain  poor.*  They  are  groveling;  noth 
ing  soaring,  mounting,  in  them,  such  as  I  feel 
stirring  in  me.  They  are  dull  clay,  but  I  feel  the 
touch  of  the  spirit. 

Having  finished  this  soliloquy,  and  let  out  a 
war-whoop  to  close  it  up,  he  went  in  search  of 
two  young  men  of  his  band,  The  First  Heavens 
and  Wedjanimigijigweshkunk  (He-who-hurry- 
ing  -  and-with-the-putting  -  f  orth-of-his  -  utmost- 
powers-travels-the-sky),  for  he  was  a  minor 
chief,  and  of  certain  large  and  stout  old  women 
whom  he  knew  to  be  good  packers,  able  each  of 
them  to  pack  two  hundred  pounds  for  miles  and 
miles.  He  told  them  to  get  ready  to  go  with  him 
on  the  morrow  to  the  next  Indian  village  to  the 
north,  Leech  Lake,  and  to  prepare  plenty  of 
empty  canoes— for  the  journey  was  to  be  made 
partly  over  the  lakes — to  bring  back  what  he 
would  load  them  with.  Each  man  and  woman 
was  to  be  provided  with  a  strong  packing  strap, 
to  pack  their  very  best,  for  their  endurance 
would  be  put  to  the  test  by  the  loads  he  would 

*To  apply  the  epithet  "poor"  in  this  way  to  anyone  is  a  term  of 
great  reproach. 


THE  OJIBWAY  187 

provide  for  them.  He  also  instructed  some  of 
them  to  lead  some  ponies  around  the  lakes,  and 
have  them  ready  on  the  portages  between,  to 
assist  in  packing  the  stuff,  which  would  be  too 
great  for  unaided  human  strength. 

These  orders  excited  much  astonishment 
among  his  young  men.  "Why,  here  is  a  won 
derful  thing, "  they  said  to  him,  "you  are  evi 
dently  preparing  to  bring  back  quantities  of 
stuff  from  Leech  Lake,  for  you  are  providing 
empty  canoes  to  load  it  in,  and  packers  and 
packing-straps,  and,  men  and  women,  and  even 
horses,  and  yet  you  have  nothing  prepared  to 
barter  with  those  Indians. 

"I  see  no  bead-work,  no  guns,  cloth,  or  any 
thing;  no  whisky,  brandy;  or  even  food;  and  we 
who  know  your  circumstances  well  know  that 
you  have  none  of  these  things.  How  then  do 
you  expect  to  get  anything  from  them  1  The  In 
dian  is  not  a  fool,  he  is  a  keen  trader ;  and  for 
you  to  expect  to  get  something,  or  a  great  deal, 
from  them  for  nothing,  apears  to  us  as  if  you 
were  mad.  Many  times  we  have  been  employed 
by  the  French  traders  on  trading  expeditions, 
but  then  we  had  the  brandy  and  whiskey  and 
the  cloths  with  us,  and  then  it  was  plain  what  we 
were  to  do;  but  this  going  empty-handed  seems 
as  if  you  had  taken  leave  of  your  senses. ' ' 

To  these  remonstrances  of  his  young  men  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  replied:  "Do  you  see  those  canoes! 
—empty,  now,  as  you  say.  Well,  I  will  go  to 
those  Indians  and  I  shall  take  no  goods  nor  any 
thing  in  my  hand,  yet  I  shall  bring  those  canoes 
back  loaded  with  the  goods  of  those  Indians. 


188  THE  OJIBWAY 

Such  is  the  force  of  my  genius.  I  grant  that 
you  poor  clods  could  not  do  it,  but  I  can  and 
shall.  You  yourselves  will  see  poor  widows  com 
ing  out  of  their  wigwams  and  begging  me  to  take 
their  last  and  only  pair  of  blankets,  which  they 
ought  to  sleep  in  next  winter  to  keep  them  from 
freezing  to  death,  and  begging  me  to  put  them  in 
my  packs  and  carry  them  away.  And  you  will 
see  them  bringing  out  the  last  birch-bark  box  of 
maple  sugar  they  have,  which  they  made  with 
pain  and  difficulty  last  Spring,  and  begging  me 
to  take  it  away.  And  yet  I  go  to  them,  as  you 
see,  with  nothing. ' ' 

Leaving  his  young  men  in  this  state  of  amaze 
ment,  gazing  after  him,  doubting  if  he  were  not 
really  mad,  Sha-bosh-kunk  went  into  the  under 
brush  and  dug  up  a  quantity  of  common  roots 
of  various  kinds,  such  as  the  Indians  use  to  make 
medicine  of  by  decoctions;  roots  of  herbs  and 
roots  of  plants;  and  then  cut  off  in  lengths 
pieces  from  many  different  shrubs  and  trees. 
They  were  all  of  common,  well-known  trees  and 
herbs,  which  grew  everywhere,  with  whose  sim 
ple  medicinal  properties,  or  supposed  medicinal 
properties,  when  made  into  decoctions  by  boil 
ing,  the  Indians  were  well  acquainted  from  con 
stant  use.  These  pieces  were  cut  of  the  same 
length,  about  six  inches,  and  were  afterwards 
neatly  tied  in  small  bundles  with  pieces  of  string 
made  of  the  tough  inner  bark  of  a  tree.  Alto 
gether  there  was  quite  a  large  pile  when  it  was 
finished.  But  before  thus  robbing  her  of  her 
bounties,  Sha-bosh-kunk,  with  characteristic 
piety,  was  careful  to  make  an  offering  to  Miza- 


THE  OJIBWAY  189 

kumig-aki  —  The-Great- All-Mother-Earth  —  by 
putting  some  tobacco  into  the  hole  out  of 
which  he  had  dug  something,  and  carefully 
covering  it  up  again  with  earth.  This  was 
done  that  he  might  not  displease  The-Great- 
All-Mother-Earth  by  despoiling  her  of  her 
treasures  without  compensation.  These  me 
dicinal  herbs  and  plants  had  been  granted 
as  a  great  favor  by  the  Great  Spirit  to  We- 
nabozho,  a  demi-god,  who  made  this  world; 
the  universal  nephew  of  the  Indians,  who 
in  turn  had  committed  them  to  the  care  of 
Mizakumig-aki  —  The-Great-Everywhere-Earth 
—for  the  benefit  of  his  uncles  and  aunts,  the 
Ojibways,  to  cure  them  of  sickness,  to  make  their 
bodies  strong,  and  to  prolong  their  lives  to  ex 
treme  old  age.  Sha-bosh-kunk  felt  that  he  was  a 
very  pious  man,  and  had  fulfilled  all  obligations 
when  he  made  this  offering  of  tobacco  to  i  i  The- 
All-Mother-Earth"  in  return  for  her  treasures 
which  he  had  taken,  and  he  piously  breathed  a 
prayer  to  her. 

The  remainder  of  that  day  was  spent  in  ar 
ranging  his  bundles  of  cuttings  and  roots  and  in 
getting  ready,  and  on  the  next  they  commenced 
the  journey.  On  the  third  day,  arrived  at  Leech 
Lake,  the  inhabitants  were  very  anxious  to  see 
the  new-comer,  and  to  hear  what  tidings  he 
brought;  and  especially  to  know  the  object  of 
the  visit  of  himself  and  party.  Many  were 
their  speculations  as  to  what  that  could  be- 
some  thought  that  he  came  to  raise  a  war  party ; 
others  that  he  had  come  to  invite  them  to  Gull 
Lake  to  a  dance ;  others  that  he  was  the  bearer  of 


190  THE  OJIBWAY 

a  proposition  from  the  Gull  Lake  Indians  about 
their  political  affairs.  Sha-bosh-kunk,  how 
ever,  put  them  off,  which  only  whetted  their  cur 
iosity  the  more,  and  finally  told  them  that  at 
dusk  he  would  meet  them  all  assembled  in  their 
Council-House. 

When  evening  came  almost  the  whole  village 
was  there,  the  men  squatting  in  circles  round  the 
central  cleared  space,  in  which  Sha-bosh-kunk 
was  seated,  and  where  he  was  to  declare  the  ob 
ject  of  his  visit.  The  men  were  mostly  smoking, 
being  engaged  in  hard  thinking. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  then  rose  and  made  them  a 
little  speech.  He  said,  smiling  blandly  upon 
them: 

' '  My  friends,  I  and  my  young  men  have  come 
a  long  distance  to  see  you.  You  may  be  sure  we 
have  not  come  for  nothing.  I  have  something 
very  important  to  tell  you.  My  friends,  I  am 
endued  with  very  great,  with  supernatural  pow 
ers.  I  shall  show  you,  my  friends,  what  powers 
the  spirits  have  given  me— such  powers  as 
neither  you  nor  your  fathers'  fathers  ever  saw. 
I  shall  demonstrate  that  power  to  you  here  in 
your  presence;  and  being  a  medicine-man  of 
such  power  as  I  shall  show  you  I  am,  you  know 
that  my  medicine,  any  medicine  that  I  shall  give, 
must  have  unlimited  power  for  life.  It  must  be 
powerful  to  heal  all  sickness,  for  it  will  partake 
of  my  power  which  I  shall  show  you.  It  will 
surely  prolong  life  to  extremest  old  age,  or 
make  the  user  immortal. ' '  Here  his  mind  took 
a  vast  leap  to  the  full  conception  of  his  great 
ness.  ' l  My  friends,  I  think  that  I  am  God  and  I 


THE  OJIBWAY  191 

shall  now  give  you  a  demonstration  of  it,  and 
with  it,  of  the  power  of  my  medicine.  My  friends, 
you  see  I  have  nothing  in  my  hand, "— here  he 
held  up  his  open  palm  for  their  inspection,— 
"now  see  this!"  With  that  he  made  a  rapid 
sweep  of  his  hand  behind  his  back  upon  his 
breech-cloth,  which  was  made  of  an  old  blanket ; 
then  holding  up  his  hand  in  front  of  them,  there, 
wonder  of  wonders,  burned  between  his  fingers 
a  bright  blaze  of  fire ! 

The  breath  of  the  audience  seemed  to  stop 
while  this  amazing  exhibition  was  given.  Every 
eye  was  concentrated  upon  that  flame,  seen  more 
distinctly  in  the  gathering  dusk. 

The  functions  of  life  were  suspended  while 
that  thing  was  burning.  People  forgot  to 
breathe.  Their  whole  soul  was  in  their  gaze, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  flame  went  out  that  a  deep 
sigh  went  over  the  assembly  as  they  once  more 
took  breath. 

"My  friends, "  continued  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "I 
have  not  only  done  it  once,  I  shall  do  it  again. 
I  can  do  it  as  often  as  I  wish."  Here  he  again 
made  the  same  rapid  sweep  behind  with  his 
hand,  upon  his  breech-cloth,  and  once  more  the 
flaming  marvel  stood  forth.  At  last  the  pent-up 
astonishment  of  the  audience  burst  forth,  and 
they  turned  one  to  another,  saying :  '  *  The  like 
has  never  been  seen  since  the  world  began. 
Neither  we  nor  our  fathers  have  ever  heard  of 
such  a  thing;  Sha-bosh-kunk  has  taken  fire  out 
of  his  body.  Did  you  see  him  reach  his  hand 
behind  him  and  draw  it  out?  Sha-bosh-kunk 


192  THE  OJIBWAY 

has  fire  in  his  body.     He  is  indeed  God,  as  he 
said." 

The  next  step  was  that  he  had  medicine,  which 
he  would  part  with,  and  which  he  said  partook 
of  the  same  supernatural  strength  as  his  own 
body,  out  of  which  he  had  taken  fire.*  He  made 
them  a  little  speech,  standing  up  in  the  midst  of 
them  and  surveying  them  with  one  of  his  open 
smiles:  "My  relatives,"— he  called  them  by 
that  endearing  name,— "I  am  not  selfish." 
This  he  said  with  an  engaging  tone  of  voice. 
"I  love  all  people,  and  the  wish  of  my  heart  is 
that  all  people  should  be  blessed  even  as  I  my 
self  am  blessed.  If  I  have  a  good  thing  I  do  not 
wish  to  hide  it  and  keep  it  to  myself  selfishly  to 
enjoy;  to  enjoy  it  myself  while  some  poor  fellow- 
Indian  may  be  suffering— yes,  perhaps  dying— 
for  the  want  of  that  very  thing.  No !  I  am  not 
that  sort  of  a  man.  It  would  be  torture  to  me  to 
have  my  fellow-being  suffering  for  that  which  I 
might  have  imparted  to  him,  and  yet  did  not. 
My  relatives,  you  have  seen  what  I  took  out  of 
my  body  and  you  may  guess  what  is  the  strength 
of  my  medicine.  I  think  I  am  immortal.  I 
think  I  shall  never  die.  It  may  be  that  when 
I  am  extremely  old  and  the  Birds  of  Thunder 
fly  over  some  time  that  I  shall  rise  and  fly 
away  with  them,— for  I  am  a  god,— it  may  be 
that  that  will  be  the  case ;  but  my  own  opinion 


*This  was  in  strict  accordance  with  the  ideas  of  the  Indians, 
who  believed  that  the  power  and  virtue  of  any  medicine  were  lu 
exact  proportion  to  the  power  and  virtue  of  the  person  from  whom 
the  medicine  came.  If  he  gave  them  cuttings  of  twigs  or  roots, 
and  they  boiled  them  and  made  decoctions  of  them, — as  they  were 
In  the  habit  of  doing, — then  the  decoction  would  have  all  his  super 
natural  powers  imparted  to  it,  and  through  it  to  the  users. 


THE  OJIBWAY  193 

is  that  I  shall  live  forever  on  this  earth! 
My  medicine  will  enable  me  to  do  so.  Not  even 
with  the  Birds  of  Thunder  shall  I  fly  away. 
Now,  my  relatives,  the  same  virtue  that  T  have 
imparted  to  myself  by  my  medicine,  I  can  im 
part  to  you  also  by  my  medicine.  It  will  make 
your  bodies  strong  and  sound,  and,  as  I  believe, 
immortal.  I  wish  you  to  live  long  and  be  happy 
on  this  earth,  even  as  I  wish  myself  to  live  long 
and  be  happy  on  it.  I  have  the  medicine  here  at 
hand,  for  I  wish  yon  to  share  in  the  benefit  of  it." 
Here  he  produced  the  bundles  of  cuttings  of 
branches  and  twigs,  and  of  roots  and  herbs, 
which  he  had  placed  conveniently  at  hand. 

He  now  addressed  them  further:  "My 
friends,  we  are  not  all  equally  rich  in  this  life. 
It  has  been  so  destined  that  some  of  us  have  a 
wealth  of  goods— blankets,  and  maple  sugar,  and 
wild  rice,  and  otter  skins,  and  beaver  and  mink. 
Some  of  us  are  strong  and  vigorous  and  able  to 
get  all  things  for  ourselves;  some  again  are 
weak,  and  have  to  content  themselves  with  very 
little.  Now  I  have  a  very  tender  feeling  toward 
those  who  are  lowly;  toward  those  who  have  not 
been  strong  enough  to  seize  their  full  share  of 
the  goods  of  this  life.  I  do  not  wish  them  to 
suffer  because  they  are  poor,  nor  to  be  deprived 
of  blessing.  No,  those  are  the  very  ones  that  I 
have  most  regard  for,  the  humble— those  who 
are  down.  I  think  to  myself,  'Oh  that  they 
may  share  in  the  blessings  of  this  medicine  even 
as  I  myself !'  I  do  not  much  concern  myself 
with  the  strong— with  the  vigorous  hunters,  who 
are  able  to  go  out  on  the  prairie  and  overcome 


194  THE  OJIBWAY 

the  animals  and  make  themselves  packs  of  all 
kinds  of  furs,  as  much  as  they  wish.  No,  I  do 
not  think  upon  them;  for  they  are  able  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  But  I  think  upon  the  poor ; 
the  widows,  those  of  small  means.  If,  therefore, 
they  have  not  packs  of  furs,— as  they  are  not 
able  to  go  out  and  hunt  for  them,— no  matter; 
they  shall  not  be  left  without  blessing.  I  shall 
not  allow  them  to  mourn,  seeing  the  rich  and  the 
strong  carry  off  the  medicine.  Let  them  give 
me  whatever  little  they  have,  even  though  it  be 
far  inferior  in  value  to  what  I  give  them  in  re 
turn—let  them  give  me  a  blanket,  or  a  little 
maple  sugar,  or  a  tanned  skin,  or  whatever  they 
have;  and  I,  rather  than  see  them  go  away  in 
grief,  rather  than  see  them  mourning  while  the 
rich  are  rejoicing,  will  accept  it.  My  heart  is 
such  that  I  do  not  wish  to  go  away  and  leave  any 
one  mourning  in  this  village.  To  leave  any  one 
with  the  feeling  that  he  or  she  had  been  passed 
over  because  they  had  the  misfortune  to  be 
poor." 

A  strong  impulse  now  swept  over  the  assem 
bly,  and  no  one  was  willing  to  have  Sha-bosh^ 
kunk,  possessed  of  such  miraculous  powers,  go 
away  without  having  obtained  some  of  the 
precious  medicine  from  him.  Blankets,  food, 
furs,  if  given  away,  could  be  replaced  from  some 
other  quarter— there  was  a  possibility  of  it. 
But  if  this  wonderful  man  and  his  medicine  got 
away,— and  he  was  going  in  the  morning,— 
where  could  any  more  of  it  be  got?  And  would 
it  not  be  better  to  freeze  through  the  winter  with 
out  blankets,  than  have  them  and  not  have  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  195 

medicine,  which  was  life  itself?  So  when  one, 
eager  to  get  the  medicine,  came  bringing  furs 
for  it,  that  excited  his  neighbor  lest  he  should  be 
left  out.  And  when  another  was  begging  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  to  take  a  pack  of  beaver  skins  and 
give  him  the  medicine  before  he  attended  to  the 
request  of  the  others,  all  this  spread  the  compe 
tition  and  the  mania.  And  so  it  came  to  pass 
even  as  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  predicted,  that  old, 
crippled  widows  came  hobbling  out  of  their  wig 
wams  and  begged  him  to  take  their  little  all,  yes 
their  last  garment,  but  in  any  case  to  let  them 
have  some  of  the  precious  medicine. 

"See  here,"  cried  one,  "how  poor  I  am;  have 
pity  on  me  because  I  am  poor,  and  give  me  some 
of  the  medicine.  Do  not  go  away  and  leave  me 
the  only  person  in  the  village  who  has  not  got 
any  of  it,  as  if  I  was  a  webini gun  "—something 
rejected,  a  rejected  person.  "See,  in  return  I 
have  brought  you  all  I  have. ' ' 

So  a  lively  traffic  was  kept  red-hot,  while  the 
roots  and  cuttings  were  being  exchanged  for  the 
goods  of  all  kinds  which  were  brought.  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  personally  conducted  the  trade,  and 
fanned  the  excitement  by  pretended  repression 
of  it.  He  kept  talking  as  he  kept  giving  out  the 
medicine  and  taking  in  the  goods. 

"No,"  he  said,  straightening  up  for  a  moment 
in  the  midst  of  his  task,  "do  not  ask  me  to  give 
you  any  more  medicine  than  you  need  for  your 
self.  I  really  cannot  give  it.  I  wish  to  give 
only  what  you  will  need  for  yourself  for  there 
will  not  be  enough  for  all.  Now  do  not  ask  me 
for  any  more."  The  man  had  not  asked  him,  but 


196  THE  OJIBWAY 

this  pretended  reluctance  to  give,  and  antici 
pated  scarcity,  had  its  intended  effect  on  the 
eager  buyers,  and  made  them  still  more  eager. 
"No,  really  I  cannot.  Now  do  not  ask  me  for 
more. "  Such  were  the  words  which  he  kept  re 
peating  again  and  again  as  he  turned  first  to  one 
and  then  another,  taking  in  the  goods.  He  al 
lowed  no  quiet  time,  but  kept  their  attention 
fixed  by  his  continual  talking;  always  of  scarcity 
and  refusal. 

At  last,  after  a  long  time,  there  was  quiet. 
The  roots  and  cuttings  were  all  gone;  so  were 
the  buyers.  Now  was  the  time  for  Sha-bosh-kunk 
and  his  aids  to  be  busy,  making  the  goods  into 
packs  and  loading  them  on  the  ponies  and  pack 
ers.  As  soon  as  that  was  finished,  though  it  was 
dark,  Sha-bosh-kunk  hurried  them  off,  and  they 
took  the  road  for  Gull  Lake.  By  the  morning 
light  neither  Sha-bosh-kunk  nor  the  goods  were 
there. 

He  knew  that  it  was  very  possible,  indeed  quite 
probable,  for  the  morning  light  to  bring  a  Leech 
Lake  villager  to  his  camp  eager  to  re-exchange 
a  few  cuttings  of  twigs,  which  did  not  look  very 
valuable  in  the  sober  light  of  morning,  for  the 
pack  of  beaver  skins  or  the  blankets  which  he 
had  paid  for  them;  and  if  one  started  that  kind 
of  business  there  would  be  plenty  that  would  fol 
low.  He  had  selected  Leech  Lake  as  the  scene 
of  his  operations  because  it  was  two  days'  jour 
ney  farther  in  the  wilderness  than  where  he 
lived  and  he  was  sure  that  no  lucifer  matches 
had  found  their  way  there.  Laden  with  plun 
der,  he  arrived  at  his  own  village,  having  by 
one  stroke  become  a  very  rich  man. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

UNEXPECTED  RESULTS  OF  A  NEW  WAR  PARTY. 

The  beautiful  summer  was  now  passing  its 
height,  and  its  maturing  suns  brought  an  in 
crease  of  blessings  to  the  Indian  village  and  a 
greater  variety  to  its  bill  of  fare.  First  there 
were  delicious  strawberries  in  great  abundance 
—  acres  of  them.  In  these  they  reveled.  Then 
there  were  the  blueberries,  thousands  of  bushels, 
the  fruit  of  all  others  most  adapted  to  the  In 
dian's  palate.  Quantities  of  these  the  women 
dried  in  the  sun  for  winter  use,  a  reminder  in 
stern  winter  of  the  beautiful  summer,  and  a 
pledge  that  it  would  come  again.  Then  there 
were  luscious  raspberries,  acres  and  acres  of 
them,  more  than  they  could  consume.  The 
earth  was  rich  with  her  bounty,  and  yielded 
them  the  choicest  fruits  in  great  abundance. 
Nor  did  she  forget  to  grace  her  banquet  with  the 
choicest  flowers.  They  reposed  amidst  millions 
of  roses  which  made  the  air  sweet  with  perfume, 
and  when  they  walked  abroad  it  was  on  beds  of 
flowers.  Everything  sweet  and  lovely  bloomed 
there,  and  in  the  utmost  profusion.  Nature  was 
prodigal  in  her  efforts  to  put  forth  beauty. 
There  were  the  most  graceful  shapes,  the  most 
delicate  colors,  the  most  exquisite  perfumes. 
Not  only  what  was  most  gratifying  to  the  palate 
did  she  provide,  but  she  garnished  it  with  most 


198  THE  OJIBWAY 

delicate  fruits  and  served  it  amidst  beds  of  flow 
ers.  Every  want  of  the  bodily  man  and  of  the 
esthetic  sense  was  fully  gratified.  If  human  be 
ings  could  be,  surely  they  were  in  an  earthly  par 
adise. 

So  the  long  summer  days  passed,  each  one  a 
joy.  Yet  there  was  not  a  monotony— it  was  a 
changing  loveliness.  The  flowers  of  one  day 
were  not  those  of  the  next;  the  sky  and  the 
clouds  of  yesterday  were  not  those  of  to-day. 
Nature  had  an  infinite  variety  in  her  moods,  but 
every  one  of  them  lovely,  always  changing,  but 
always  wooing  the  admiration  of  the  beholder 
by  the  loveliness  of  each  change.  She  first 
evolved  from  her  bosom  flowers  of  one  kind,  and 
then,  as  if  eager  to  show  that  her  resources  of 
beauty  were  inexhaustible,  she  replaced  them  by 
another ;  then  she  brought  forth  another  and  still 
another.  Always  smiling,  always  gently  labor 
ing  in  birth  of  some  new  thing.  If  sometimes  a 
frown  gathered  across  her  face  and  for  a  mo 
ment  she  scowled,  while  the  black  clouds  wracked 
across  her,  it  was  only  to  smile  again  more 
sweetly  when  she  looked  out  laughing  after  her 
tears.  "The  clear  shining  after  rain,"  when 
all  her  flowers  and  plants  were  freshly  washed 
from  the  sky,  was  the  most  beautiful  mood  of  all. 

Soon  after  this,  when  the  first  days  of  Septem 
ber  began  to  promise  a  richer  tint  of  autumnal 
glories,  the  village  moved  a  little  ways  to  their 
wild  rice  lake  to  commence  their  annual  gather 
ing  of  that  important  part  of  their  living.  Here 
not  earth  only,  but  even  the  water,  seemed  labor 
ing  of  its  own  accord  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  199 

children,  for  from  its  dark  depths,  by  some  mys 
terious  power,  was  put  forth  the  nutritious  grain 
that  they  needed.  They  had  ducks,  they  had 
flesh  of  all  kinds,  but  besides  all  this  they  needed 
another  food  of  a  different  kind,  a  cereal,  the 
complement  of  all  the  rest,— that  which  was 
needed  to  make  all  the  rest  really  wholesome  to 
human  kind,— and  lo!  the  water  asked  the  priv 
ilege  of  furnishing  it!  Nor  had  Nature  to  be 
tickled  with  the  plough,  or  tempted  by  previous 
seeds  thrown  in,  or  guarded  from  danger  by  a 
fence  thrown  around ;  but  laboring  shyly  in  se 
cret,  her  efforts  were  all  unknown  till  the 
ripened  grain  hung  temptingly  over  the  darkling 
flood.  All  the  elements,  even  those  thought  to 
be  the  most  insensate — the  earth,  the  sky,  even 
the  dark  water— conspired  to  produce  each  its 
quota  for  these  children  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

Soon  the  wigwams  were  erected  on  the  bank 
of  the  lake.  The  merry  shouts  of  children  filled 
the  air,  the  women  were  pushing  the  light  and 
graceful  birch-bark  canoes  amongst  the  envel 
oping  wild-rice  stalks,  and  encircling  an  armful 
of  them  with  one  arm  were  holding  them  over 
the  canoe,  while  with  the  other  they  deftly 
scutched  off  the  grain  with  a  paddle ;  then  bend 
ing  over  to  the  other  side,  performed  a  similar 
operation  there;  then  gently  shoving  the  canoe 
forward  a  paddle's  length  they  repeated  the 
process;  so  it  went  on  till  the  canoe  was  filled. 
Everywhere  could  be  heard  the  scutch,  scutch  of 
the  paddle  as  it  fell  upon  the  rice.  The  watery 
meadow— for  such  it  seemed  to  be,  the  luxur 
iantly-growing  plant  almost  hiding  the  liquid 


200  THE  OJIBWAY 

from  view— appeared  to  be  alive  with  invisible 
beings,  for  the  tall  and  thick  rice  stalks  gathered 
over  the  canoes  and  enclosed  them  from  sight. 
Then  a  call  from  one  of  the  canoes  would  reveal 
where  the  workers  were,  or  perhaps  a  canoe,  al 
ready  filled  with  rice,  would  be  pushed  to  the 
shore  to  be  unloaded ;  then  having  been  emptied 
would  once  more  be  pushed  back  into  the  envel 
oping  rice.  So  the  work  went  merrily  on,  day 
after  day.  The  women  engaged  in  it  as  in  a 
frolic,  for  it  w^as  left  to  them  to  do.  The  men 
were  lying  on  the  bank  watching  them,  gossip- 
ping,  or  most  likely  gambling;  once  in  a  while 
rising  from  the  game  when  ducks  flew  over,  dis 
turbed  by  the  rice-gathering  canoes  in  the  lake, 
to  pick  up  their  guns— then  the  loud  report,  and 
the  mallard  falling  tumbling  at  their  feet,  later 
to  be  cleaned  and  dressed  by  the  women,and  to 
gether  with  the  wild  rice  to  form  a  most  delicious 
meal.  Sometimes,  however,  the  men  complained 
that  they  were  really  hungry ;  for  although  the 
ducks  flew  over  them  thickly  disturbed  by  the 
canoes,  they  were  so  much  absorbed  in  the  game, 
that  they  could  not  tear  themselves  away  from  it 
long  enough  to  rise  and  shoot. 

In  the  still  mornings  it  was  an  interesting 
sight ;  so  many  smokes  going  straight  up  to  the 
sky,  as  outside  the  door  of  the  wigwam,  around 
the  fire  built  there,  each  family  sat  preparing 
breakfast  before  beginning  the  day's  rice-gath 
ering. 

After  sufficient  rice  had  been  gathered  by  each 
family,  came  the  parching,  the  threshing  to  sep 
arate  the  grain  from  the  husk,  then  the  winnow- 


THE  OJIBWAY  201 

ing  and  putting  in  sacks  of  their  own  making,  to 
be  kept  for  use  during  the  coming  year.  More 
nutritious  and  sustaining,  as  well  as  of  a  more 
delicate  flavor  than  white  rice,  it  was  the  very 
element  the  Indian  needed  to  make  perfectly 
wholesome  his  otherwise  too-exclusively  flesh 
and  fish  diet. 

When  this  rice  gathering  was  nearly  over, 
and  when  the  days  began  to  be  a  little  cold, 
Sha-bosh-kunk  began  to  meditate  what  he 
ought  to  do.  Others  in  the  village  had  gained 
great  reputations  since  the  summer  began;  he 
had  done  nothing.  Other 's  stars  had  risen ;  his 
had  at  least  remained  stationary.  Others  had 
gone  against  the  Sioux  and  displayed  the  highest 
courage,  endurance,  sagacity,  and  every  manly 
and  precious  quality;  he  had  nothing  to  show 
except  his  expedition  to  Leech  Lake.  Yellow 
Thunder  and  his  companions  had  taken  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  gone  right  into  the  midst  of 
the  Sioux  village,  and  thence  brought  out  scalps, 
and  still  lived.  "The  Sioux"  had  done  more— 
he  had  given  himself  up  to  them,  gone  right  in 
among  them,  yet  he  also  lived;  he  could  show 
nothing  of  the  sort.  The  others  had  so  many 
eagle's  feathers  when  they  danced,  they  bore 
the  record  of  their  prowess  upon  their  own  per 
sons  ;  but  he  had  to  prop  up  his  rather  tottering 
reputation  by  fair  speeches.  The  others  did  not 
find  it  necessary  to  speak;  their  acts  spoke  for 
themselves.  He,  if  he  did  not  speak  and  in  that 
way  keep  himself  in  the  public  eye,  would  sink 
into  insignificance.  He,  he  felt,  was  founded  on 
speech ;  they  on  their  deeds.  When  they  passed 


202  THE  OJIBWAY 

along  men  looked  after  them  and  spoke  of  them ; 
there  was  nothing  about  him  of  which  they  could 
speak. 

He  considered  all  this,  and  found  that  it  was 
necessary  for  him,  if  he  would  maintain  his  po 
sition,  to  do  something.  Therefore  he  spoke  to 
his  young  men,  and  with  them  went  hunting  and 
killed  a  quantity  of  meat.  Then  he  sent  round 
some  tobacco— the  Indian's  letter— and  called 
them  to  a  feast.  On  the  day  appointed  they 
came,  each  with  his  dish  and  wooden  spoon,  and 
the  feast  was  served  out.  When  repletion 
came,  there  was  the  sound  of  the  drum,  and  their 
spirits  were  revived  by  the  dance. 

After  there  had  been  considerable  drumming 
and  dancing,  and  the  spirits  of  the  assembly 
had  been  sufficiently  roused,  the  time  had  come 
for  him  to  disclose  the  object  of  the  meeting. 
Accordingly,  in  the  lull  that  followed  the  dance, 
he  rose,  and,  holding  his  blanket  in  graceful 
folds  around  his  body,  something  like  a  Roman 
toga,  and  delicately  fanning  himself  with  a 
goose's  wing  held  in  the  other  hand,  he  ad 
dressed  them: 

"My  friends,  it  is  true  that  I  formerly  op 
posed  parties  going  against  the  Sioux,  as  you 
heard  me.  I  spoke  against  Yollow  Thunder 
and  his  party  going,  as  you  remember.  I  said 
I  feared  it  would  draw  upon  us  return  war 
parties  of  the  Sioux.  It  is  true  I  did  think  so  at 
that  time,  but  the  late  attack  of  those  people 
on  our  village  has  made  me  angry.  Those 
Sioux  have  provoked  me  by  coming  against  us 
here  and  killing  us,  when  we  were  living  quietly 


THE  OJIBWAY  203 

and  doing  no  harm  to  any  one.  If  they  had 
killed  some  of  a  war  party  that  we  had  sent 
against  them,  I  would  not  have  thought  any 
thing  of  it,  for  that  is  the  fortune  of  war,  that 
some  who  go  to  fight  will  be  killed.  But  to  come 
sneaking  up  here  against  quiet  and  peaceable 
people  who  only  asked  to  live  in  quiet,  that  is 
too  bad,  and  I  say  here  that  those  Sioux  have 
provoked  me  beyond  endurance." 

He  used  the  "me"  here  to  enhance  his  own 
importance,  making  himself  out  to  be  the  repre 
sentative  of  the  whole  village,  as  if  all  the  village 
was  centred  in  his  person.  He  thus  succeeded 
in  making  himself  very  prominent. 

"My  friends,  I  do  indeed  love  my  people; 
you  know  that  I  do.  Yes,  I  put  my  breast  be 
tween  them  and  the  bullets  of  our  enemies" 
here  he  pressed  his  extended  palm  upon  his 
breast— "for  those  bullets  to  bury  themselves 
in  my  breast,  and  leave  them  unharmed.  I  have 
the  profoundest  pity  for  the  helpless  women 
and  children,  and  I  offer  my  life  for  them  that 
they  may  live  in  safety.  It  does  not  matter  if 
I  am  killed.  I  shall  have  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  I  gave  my  life  for  my  people.  I 
can  die  in  no  better  cause  than  standing  as  a 
rampart  between  the  helpless  women  and  the 
innocent  little  children  and  those  who  are  rush 
ing  to  slay  them.  Is  there  anything  sweeter  in 
life  than  our  innocent,  prattling,  little  babes? 
Who  would  stand  tamely  by  and  see  our  ene 
mies'  knives  lodged  in  their  throats!  Who 
could  bear  to  see  their  innocent  life-blood  flow 
ing?  Not  I,  my  friends.  Therefore,  I  offer  my 


204  THE  OJIBWAY 

body  as  a  sacrifice  for  them.  It  is  true  I  am  a 
very  long-suffering  man;  and  hard  to  provoke 
to  the  boiling  point.  I  suffer,  and  suffer,  and 
suffer;  and  people  think  that  injuries  do  not 
sink  into  me :  that  I  am  tame— but,  my  friends, 
when  my  wrath  does  explode  it  is  terrible! 
Those  Sioux  killed  some  of  my  people  and  I 
said  nothing.  They  killed  yet  others  and  still  I 
held  my  peace.  But  last  summer  they  came 
against  me,  right  here  in  my  village,  and  killed 
some  of  my  people  before  my  eyes ;  and  although 
I  said  nothing  at  the  time,  yet  the  ferment  has 
been  working  in  my  breast;  and  to-day  I  say 
that  I  shall  be  avenged!  To-day  I  say  that  I 
raise  the  hatchet;  I,  who  am  naturally  a  kind 
and  peaceable  man,  with  a  kind  feeling  for  every 
living  thing,  even  though  it  were  as  insignificant 
as  a  worm;  to-day  I  raise  the  hatchet,  and  I 
shall  not  lay  it  down  till  I  have  avenged  in  their 
blood  the  blood  that  they  have  shed  here  in  my 
village;  and  till  I  have  caused  it  that  there  be 
a  good  many  less  of  those  vipers  left  living  upon 
the  earth  to  come  again  and  molest  us  here. 

i ;  And  I  expect  to  strike  such  terror  into  them 
by  the  manner  of  my  attack,  by  the  ferocity  with 
which  I  shall  rush  upon  them,  that  they  will  give 
up  for  good  and  all,  coming  here  to  provoke  me 
any  more ;  that  their  dread  of  me  will  be  so  great 
that  they  will  henceforth  stay  away  from  where 
I  am,  and  leave  our  little  children  to  grow  up 
in  peace.  And  so  I  wish  to  offer  myself,  my 
friends,  as  a  sacrifice  for  you  all,  and  for  your 
women  and  children.  If  I  fall,  and  never  return 
here  again,  that  is  nothing;  all  I  ask  of  you  is 


THE  OJIBWAY  205 

to  remember  that  Sha-bosh-kunk  loved  you,  and 
voluntarily  offered  his  life  as  a  sacrifice  for  you 
and  for  your  little  ones.  So  that  is  why,  my 
friends,  I  commanded  my  young  men  to  go  out 
and  kill  the  choicest  elk  and  deer,  and  make  this 
feast,  a  parting  meal— and  then  for  you  to  send 
me  and  my  young  men  forth,  with  your  permis 
sion,  against  those  who  would  destroy  you." 

This  speech  was  followed  by  shouts  of  ap 
proval  from  every  side,  haw-haw-haw ;  and  then, 
as  the  natural  expression  of  their  exultant  and 
jubilant  feelings,  they  all  jumped  up,  and  every 
one  joined  fast  and  furiously  in  the  dance,  their 
drawn  knives  and  their  bent  looks  directed 
toward  the  Sioux  country,  and  their  fervid  war- 
whoops  showing  the  intensity  of  their  feelings, 

When  this  excitement  had  calmed  down  and 
all  were  again  seated  quietly  on  the  ground,  one 
of  the  old  chiefs  rose  and  commended  the  good 
purpose  of  the  one  who  had  called  them  to  the 
feast ;  gave  him  their  permission  to  go,  and  their 
best  wishes  for  a  successful  issue  of  the  under 
taking.  After  an  interval  of  dancing  he  was 
followed  by  many  others,  who  one  and  all  spoke 
in  commendation  of  the  good  purpose  of  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  and  his  men ;  and  with  many  a  charge 
to  them  to  "take  the  greatest  care,"  to  "bend 
up  every  nerve, "  to  "  do  their  very  best, ' '  and  to 
bring  home  their  numbers  undiminished,  gave 
them  their  very  best  wishes  for  their  undertak 
ing. 

The  best  part  of  the  day  had  been  spent  in 
considering  this  important  matter,  and  now 
toward  evening  the  assembly  broke  up,  and 


206  THE  OJIBWAY 

every  one,  well  satisfied,  went  to  his  own  place. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  saw  that  he  had  had  a  splendid 
send-off.  He  was  going  forth  with  a  great  flour 
ish  of  trumpets.  For  the  time  being  every  one 
was  talking  about  him  and  the  eyes  of  all  were 
directed  toward  him.  He  was  going  forth  as 
the  champion  of  the  village — their  defender, 
their  savior.  It  was  his  own  statement  thaFlie 
was  going  to  throw  away  his  life  for  their  sakes, 
and  they  accepted  it  and  looked  on  him  with  the 
feelings  which  such  sacrifice  for  them  should 
arouse. 

The  next  morning  he  and  his  two  young  men, 
one  of  whom  was  First-Heavens,  the  unsuccess 
ful  lover,  and  the  other,  Traveling-the-Heavens, 
—two  was  all  he  deemed  it  wise  to  take,  as  a 
small  party  could  more  easily  escape  observa 
tion  than  a  large  one,— marched  out  of  the 
village,  their  faces  toward  their  enemies. 
The  entire  village  was  assembled,  men, 
women  and  children,  to  see  them  off;  and 
cries  of  encouragement,  and  good  wishes 
resounded  from  all  sides.  Over  all  other 
cries  the  one  that  reached  them  oftenest  was 
what  the  Indians  always  say  to  a  person  goina: 
on  a  dangerous  errand,  ' '  Ay-ang-wam-i-zi-yuk ' ' 
— "  take  the  greatest  care ;  put  forth  your  utmost 
effort. ' '  Until  they  were  out  of  sight  these  cries 
of  encouragement  from  loving  friends  followed 
them,  and  the  last  look  they  took  backwards, 
before  a  turn  of  the  road  finally  hid  the  village 
from  their  sight,  there  was  the  entire  popula 
tion  with  arms  stretched  out  towards  them,  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  207 

loving  gestures  encouraging  them.  Never  had 
a  party  gone  forth  in  a  greater  blaze  of  glory. 

They  decided  not  to  take  the  river  route,  but 
to  go  all  the  way  on  foot ;  for  though  it  was  easy 
to  float  down  in  their  canoes  it  was  dangerous, 
the  water  affording  an  unobstructed  view  of 
them  to  their  enemies,  themselves  hidden  in  the 
forest.  There  had  been  a  Sioux  war  party  dur 
ing  the  summer,  and  they  knew  that  on  the  river 
they  were  liable  to  run  into  them  at  any  time. 
Therefore  they  wisely  chose  the  hardships  of 
land  travel,  and  aimed  for  a  new  village  about 
six  days'  march  (150  miles)  distant. 

At  first  their  spirits  were  high ;  the  earth  and 
sky  were  beautiful,  the  sun  shining  brightly, 
and  the  woods  were  all  aflame  with  the  many 
varied  hues  of  the  turning  leaves.  Therefore, 
it  was  with  a  feeling  of  exhilaration  that  they 
strode  along,  and  every  once  in  a  while  some 
one  of  the  young  men  made  the  woods  resound 
with  his  burst  of  song.  As  for  Sha-bosh-kunk, 
age  had  sobered  him  and  he  walked  along 
quietly.  They  were  young  and  happy,  and  filled 
with  the  joy  of  living.  It  was  a  joy  to  live  in 
such  beautiful  surroundings;  to  breathe  that 
exhilarating  air,  and  to  feel  the  flush  of  health 
in  ever  limb.  Simply  to  exist  and  breathe  was  a 
joy.  Danger  was  far  away,  and  danger  only 
added  a  spice  of  interest.  When  they  halted  at 
noon  and  made  a  fire  and  cooked  their  meals, 
they  ate  it  with  the  relish  that  only  the  child  of 
the  wilderness  knows. 

Dinner  over,  they  renewed  their  march  with 
bounding  spirits.  The  sun  now  began  to  decline, 


208  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  the  day  with  it  became  overcast.  Toward 
night  all  the  signs  indicated  that  a  storm  was 
coming,  and  they  must  prepare  to  spend  an 
uncomfortable  night.  It  was,  therefore,  with  no 
little  satisfaction  that  amidst  the  falling  rain 
and  now  roaring  wind  they  came  on  the  hospita 
ble  wigwam  of  an  Ojibway  hunter.  He  had 
come  out  there  with  his  family,  his  wife,  and 
three  children,  two  of  them  grown  up— several 
days'  march  from  his  village,  allured  by  the 
greater  plentiness  of  game.  He  was  not  of  their 
village,  but  belonged  to  Leech  Lake;  but  they 
knew  him  well.  As  he  had  avoided  the  vicinity 
of  the  river,  which  was  the  great  highway  of 
both  Sioux  and  Chippewas  and  kept  a  consid 
erable  distance  inland  in  the  forest,  he  was  not 
in  any  danger  from  enemies.  He  was  hidden  in 
the  forest,  and  was  not  anywhere  near  the 
border  debatable  land  where  both  parties  some 
times  went  to  hunt. 

It  was,  therefore,  with  feelings  of  great  satis 
faction  that  the  dripping  warriors  drew  aside 
the  skin  door  of  his  lodge,  and  with  the  tinkling 
bells  around  their  ankles  stepped  in  beside  the 
comforting  fire.  This  was  a  good  deal  better 
than  lying  down  in  the  rain.  Here  was  warmth, 
and  dryness,  and  companionship,  and  a  wel 
come.  The  owner  of  the  wigwam,  whose  name 
was  0-kun-di-kun— The  Buoy,  was  equally  glad 
to  see  them,  for  it  relieved  the  tedium  of  the 
wilderness  to  have  visitors  come  to  his  lodge, 
and  besides  they  brought  him  all  the  latest  news 
of  all  the  Indians  he  knew,  and  about  all  things 
in  which  he  was  interested. 


THE  OJIBWAY  209 

' '  So  you  are  going  on  a  war  party, '' '  he  said 
cheerily,  when  he  had  learned  their  business. 
1  *  Well,  you  are  doing  a  good  thing. ' '  And  then 
came  the  '  *  Ay-ang-wam-i-zi-yuk  -  -  Take  the 
greatest  care. "  "  Look  out  that  those  Sioux  do 
not  kill  you.  They  are  dreadful  fellows,  those 
Sioux;  and  do  not  let  them  have  your  scalps 
dangling  at  their  belts. ' ' 

Whereupon  all  laughed,  and  Sha-bosh-kunk 
and  his  young  men  laughingly  protested  that 
they  did  not  intend  that  any  Sioux  should  take 
their  scalps ;  but  that  if  they  had  good  luck  they 
intended  to  be  back  that  way  pretty  soon,  and 
a  good  many  Sioux  scalps  with  them. 

The  owner  of  the  wigwam  now  began  to  ques 
tion  Sha-bosh-kunk  about  the  Indians  he  knew— 
what  each  one  was  doing ;  what  particular  place 
each  one  was  hunting;  what  projects  of  war 
or  of  their  own  politics  Avere  on  foot ;  what  par 
ticular  ones  were  striving  for  preeminence  and 
how  they  were  succeeding.  The  opposition  to 
the  several  schemes  afoot  was  discussed,  and 
what  counter-schemes  those  otherwise  minded 
were  endeavoring  to  raise.* 

The  owner  of  the  wigwam  was  most  inter 
ested  to  learn  the  latest  developments  in  this 
never-ending  struggle,  and  he  and  his  visitor 
discussed  the  principal  actors  and  their  subordi 
nates,  their  motives  and  characters,  from  every 
point  of  view.  What  a  happy  chance,  that  had 

*In  every  Indian  community  there  is  a  party  in  power,  and 
there  is  another  party  in  opposition  seeking  to  wrest  the  power 
from  them.  The  struggle  between  the  two  factions  never  ceases, 
although  not  always  the  same  in  point  of  intensity  ;  and  the  minds 
of  the  people  are  kept  constantly  on  the  alert,  siding  now  with 
one,  now  with  the  other. 


210  THE  OJIBWAY 

brought  liim  (Sha-bosh-kunk)  and  party,  with 
their  fund  of  the  very  latest  information  and 
new  developments ! 

As  he  was  sojourning  in  a  country  abounding 
in  game,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  supplying 
his  visitors  with  food.  While  he  was  gossiping 
and  smoking  his  long-stemmed  pipe,  his  comely 
wife  was  busy  over  certain  steaming  pots  and 
kettles;  and  by  and  by  they  were  regaled  with 
an  excellent  repast  of  hot  broth,  venison,  and 
wild  rice. 

Oh!  it  was  so  pleasant  to  sit  there  by  the 
bright  fire,  dry  and  warm,  while  the  rising  wind 
and  the  driving  rain  were  beating  against  the 
birch-bark  sides  of  the  wigwam  in  the  black  and 
cheerless  night  outside. 

So  the  night  wore  on  in  jollity  and  comfort 
till  midnight  sealed  up  their  eyes,  and  they  were 
stretched  side  by  side,  each  wrapped  in  his 
blanket.  The  fire  died  down,  leaving  only  a 
heap  of  ashes  in  the  centre,  and  silence  reigned 
except  for  the  deep  breathing  of  the  sleepers 
and  the  rain  pattering  on  the  wigwam. 

The  prospect  the  next  morning  was  dark  and 
cheerless  outside,  and  the  sky  was  lowering  and 
still  weeping.  The  ground  was  soaked  with  rain, 
and  every  step  must  be  made  in  a  puddle.  It 
was  altogether  an  uninviting  day  to  commence 
a  six  days'  tramp  through  the  wilderness.  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  and  his  men  looked  out  at  it  dubi 
ously  through  the  open  door.  It  was  so  dismal 
outside  and  so  inviting  where  they  were.  They 
therefore  gladly  accepted  the  invitation  of  their 
generous  host  to  stay  with  him  that  day  also,  he 


THE  OJIBWAY 

assuring  them  that  he  had  plenty  of  flesh  and 
wild  rice ;  that  to-inorrow  the  storm  would  prob 
ably  have  cleared  away,  and  that  then  they 
could  resume  their  journey. 

With  lightened  spirits,  therefore,  they  pro 
ceeded  to  make  themselves  comfortable  that  day 
also,  getting  thoroughly  rested,  lying  on  the 
mats  by  the  genial  fire.  As  before,  the  day  was 
spent  in  gossip,  laughter,  and  jokes  about  their 
acquaintance,  and  about  various  things  that 
were  going  on.  Though  0-kun-di-kun  lived  at 
Leech  Lake,  he  kept  a  mental  register  about 
every  Indian  of  Gull  Lake,  though  it  was  so 
far  from  his  home.  He  knew  not  only  the  his 
tory  of  each  man,  but  also  his  doings ;  where  he 
was  hunting  just  then ;  how  many  packs  of  furs 
he  had  accumulated,  and  so  on.  His  world  was 
the  three  0  jib  way  villages  of  Leech  Lake,  Gull 
Lake,  and  Mille  Lacs— in  that  world  he  knew 
every  person.  Outside  was  a  fringe  of  foreign 
Sioux,  who  sometimes  made  a  dash  within  his 
world  and  then  were  lost  to  sight— as  a  comet 
sometimes  comes  in  sight  of  this  out  of  unknown 
regions  of  space.  The  world  to  him  was  a  com 
paratively  small  region,  and  all  the  people  in 
it  were  numbered  by  only  a  few  hundreds.  A 
human  being  then  was  a  far  more  important 
quantity  with  him  than  with  us,  for  there  were 
only  a  few  hundred  human  beings  in  the  whole 
world. 

The  next  day,  to  the  disgust  of  the  warriors, 
again  dawned  cheerless  and  dismal.  It  was 
evident  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  made  a  mistake— 
he  had  started  too  late ;  the  fall  rains  had  set  in. 


212  THE  OJIBWAY 

However,  it  would  not  mend  the  matter  to 
remain  in  that  wigwam.  It  was  evidently  not 
going  to  clear  up  for  some  time,  and  they  must 
go  on  unless  they  were  going  to  give  it  up  alto 
gether.  With  some  sinking  of  spirits,  therefore, 
after  the  morning  meal  was  over  they  prepared 
for  the  march,  and  with  their  moccasined  feet, 
which  were  instantly  wet  through,  took  the  first 
step  in  the  soaked  earth  that  extended  between 
them  and  the  village  of  their  foes. 

The  owner  of  the  lodge  stood  in  the  door  of 
his  wigwam  and  gave  them  a  cheery  parting 
"ang-wam-i-zi-yuk"  as  they  filed  away,  while 
his  wife  and  the  young  people  looked  out  at  them 
from  under  his  extended  arm. 

On  they  tramped,  mile  after  mile,  in  moist 
earth  at  each  step.  The  trees  showered  down 
water  on  them  as  they  passed;  their  clothes  be 
came  saturated;  they  were  wet  to  the  skin. 
Everything  was  sticky,  clammy,  and  disagreea 
ble,  and  the  worst  of  it  was,  there  was  no  pros 
pect  of  any  end  of  it,  for  the  sun  resolutely 
refused  to  peep  forth,  and  the  rain  persistently 
showered  down.  They  had  evidently  fallen  on 
an  evil  time.  Then  they  came  to  rivers.  They 
tried  to  make  rafts  to  cross  them,  but  the  rafts 
upset  and  they  were  thrown  in.  When  evening 
came  they  were  a  thoroughly  uncomfortable 
and  a  very  much  discouraged  company. 

However,  they  made  themselves  somewhat 
comfortable  by  a  camp  fire,  if  they  could  be  said 
to  be  comfortable  while  the  rain  was  still  wet 
ting  them  from  above;  and  with  rather  dismal 
feelings  revolved  their  prospects.  Their  horizon 


THE  OJIBWAY  213 

had  become  very  much  darkened  compared  with 
what  it  was  on  the  joyous  sunny  day  in 
which  they  had  started  from  their  village. 
Then  they  were  full  of  joy  and  enthusiasm; 
and  nature,  in  her  loveliest  mood,  seemed 
to  sympathize  with  them.  Now  the  world 
was  dark,  drear,  and  dismal.  Before  them 
was  an  undiscovered  country;  but  certain 
danger,  terrible  foes,  and  perhaps  death. 
And  there  was  exhaustion  and  suffering  up  to 
the  dread  moment  of  the  trial  of  arms;  and 
exhaustion  and  suffering  they  well  knew  after 
it,  if  they  lived.  It  was,  therefore,  no  wonder 
that  that  night  they  lay  ruminating  in  silence 
by  the  fire,  whose  fitful  flashes  disclosed  only 
the  dripping  trunks  of  the  trees  as  for  a  moment 
it  lit  up  the  gloomy  recesses  of  the  forest.  Nor 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  they  wished  them 
selves  safe  back  in  the  light  and  warmth  of  their 
village,  and  that  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  never 
called  them  on  such  a  disagreeable  enterprise. 

Their  leader  sat  by  the  fire,  silent  like  the 
others;  and  like  them  he  was  deeply  ruminating 
on  the  situation.  His  eyes  were  bent  upon  the 
flame,  watching  the  sputtering  rain  falling  upon 
it,  making  a  brief  hissing  as  it  was  consumed. 
Only  occasionally  did  he  cast  a  glance  upward 
when  a  gust  stronger  than  usual  shook  the  limb 
of  the  tree  above  him,  and  for  a  moment  it 
showered  upon  him  its  overcharged  moisture. 
At  last,  after  long  looking  at  the  fire  in  moody 
silence,  only  occasionally  exchanging  monosyl 
lables,  and  once  in  a  while  glancing  into  the 
blackness  of  the  forest  if  any  unusual  sound 


214  THE  OJIBWAY 

there  attracted  their  attention,  they  all  stretched 
themselves  out  to  obtain  such  sleep  as  water- 
soaked  men  might. 

When  morning  came  they  pulled  the  blankets 
from  off  their  faces,  and,  seeing  that  it  was  day, 
one  got  up  and  tried  to  light  a  fire.  This  was 
no  easy  task  when  everything  was  soaking  wet; 
but  finally  the  fire-maker  succeeded,  and  the' 
cheerful  fire  leaped  up.  More  wood  was  piled 
upon  it,  and  soon  there  was  a  roaring  blaze, 
around  which  they  stood  drying  their  clothes. 
The  steam  came  out  of  them  as  they  turned  first 
one  side  and  then  the  other  to  the  blaze.  As 
before,  only  monosyllables  were  interchanged 
as  the  cooking  proceeded.  Those  who  were  dry 
ing  themselves  took  a  far  look  out  into  the  waste. 
Their  meal  was  now  over,  and  they  were  smok 
ing  after  it;  and  soon  a  start  somewhere  must 
be  made. 

' < Well,  boys,"  said  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "what  do 
you  think  of  this?" 

There  was  silence  for  some  time,  then  The- 
First-Heavens  answered : 

"This  is  pretty  hard,  and  it  is  going  to  be  so. 
It  seems  that  we  are  in  for  it. ' ' 

"Yes,"  said  Traveling-the-Heavens,  "we 
have  had  a  long  dry  spell,  and  now  that  the  fall 
rains  have  set  in  they  are  likely  to  last  a  consid 
erable  time." 

"Yes,  this  is  tough,"  observed  Sha-bosh-kunk. 
"The  ground  is  soaked  with  water,  and  will  be 
till  we  get  back.  It  is  like  mire.  And  our  feet 
will  be  wet  all  the  time,  and  the  trees  will  shower 
water  upon  us  as  we  pass,  and  the  underbrush 


THE  OJIBWAY  215 

will  wet  us  wherever  we  touch  it.  So  we  shall 
be  wet  all  the  time,  night  and  day. ' ' 

To  this  there  was  no  reply,  for  none  was 
needed,  all  being  unanimous  in  thinking  that 
they  were  in  a  bad  fix. 

A  long  pause  now  ensued,  when  Sha-bosh-kunk 
said,  "What  do  you  think  had  best  be  done!" 
Again  there  was  a  long  silence,  and  finally  they 
gravely  answered  that  they  did  not  know.  Again 
a  silence,  when  The-First-Heavens  remarked, 
"What  do  you  think  we  ought  to  do?  You  are 
the  leader,  and  the  one  who  brought  us  here, 
and  it  lies  upon  you  to  say  what  we  ought  to  do. ' ' 

"Well,"  replied  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "since  you 
put  it  upon  me  I  will  tell  you  how  it  seems  to 
me.  It  will  not  do  for  us  to  go  back  empty- 
handed  to  where  we  came  from.  You  know  the 
Indians  would  laugh  at  us.  We  would  never 
hear  the  end  of  it  as  long  as  we  lived.  We  made 
a  great  feast  and  invited  them  to  it,  and  we 
danced  and  made  speeches.  And  there  was  a 
great  ado  when  they  all  started  us  off  from  the 
village  three  days  ago  and  gave  us  a  great  send- 
off,  and  then  to  turn  back  because  there  was  a 
little  rain— why,  they  would  laugh  at  us  so  we 
could  not  live  there.  So  you  see  we  can  not  go 
back." 

To  this  there  was  no  reply  on  their  part— 
their  heads  hung  down.  And  while  it  was  plain 
that  to  go  back  was  the  very  thing  they  wanted 
to  do,  the  ridicule  they  must  encounter  barred 
the  way.*  It  was  one  thing  to  go  killing  Sioux 
when  everybody  was  shouting  to  them  and  en- 

*RldIcule  Is  the  one  thing  an  Indian  cannot  endure. 


216  THE  OJIBWAY 

couraging  them  on ;  when  the  drum  was  beating 
and  the  dance  in  full  blast,  and  all  knives  point 
ing  to  the  Sioux  country,  and  making  motions 
as  if  wriggling  in  a  Sioux  throat— and  a  very 
different  thing  to  undertake  it  in  cold  blood  in 
the  discouraging  circumstances  in  which  they 
found  themselves. 

"Then,"  continued  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "since  to 
return  is  barred,  let  us  see  what  outlet  there  is 
in  other  directions.  Suppose  we  go  to  the  Sioux, 
according  to  our  original  intention;  let  us  see 
how  that  will  work.  We  shall  have  at  least  five 
or  six  days '  journey  through  mire  like  this,  wet 
night  and  day,  and  tired  to  death ;  and  we  have 
deep  rivers  to  cross,  swollen  with  these  rains; 
and  we  shall  have  to  make  rafts  or  swim  them, 
and  very  likely  get  our  powder  all  wet,  and  so 
shall  not  be  able  to  kill  anything  to  eat;  and  we 
shall  almost  starve  to  death.  In  that  case  we 
shall  have  to  live  on  the  wild  potato  or  wild  tur 
nip  which  we  shall  dig  on  the  prairies,  if  we 
cannot  find  any  wild  rose  pods,  and  either  of 
them  will  be  very  hard  living.  Pretty  food  for 
men  to  live  on  going  to  fight  Sioux,  or  trying 
to  run  away  from  them,  just  when  they  need  to 
be  strongest!  Then,  even  if  we  do  live  to  get 
to  those  cursed  Sioux,  very  likely  we  shall  not 
find  them;  they  will  have  moved  their  camp  to 
some  other  place,  as  often  happens,  and  all  we 
shall  see  will  be  their  lodge  poles,  and  we  shall 
have  had  all  this  frightful  exposure  for  nothing, 
and  go  back  empty-handed  as  we  came— proba 
bly  not  be  a  bit  better  off  after  we  have  endured 


THE  OJIBWAY  217 

everything  but  death  in  going  there,  than  we 
are  this  minute. 

"Then  if  we  do  find  them  there,  you  know 
that  the  chances  are  that  after  we  have  made 
our  attack  they  will  surround  and  capture  us, 
for  it  is  on  the  prairie  they  live— there  is  no 
forest  to  hide  us ;  and  very  likely  they  will  roast 
us,  like  the  Roasters  they  are.  And  in  any  case, 
if  we  do  succeed  in  eluding  them,  we  have  this 
frightful  march  home  over  the  prairie  and 
through  this  dripping  forest,  this  bog,  that  this 
cursed  rain,  coming  on  just  at  this  time,  has 
made.  So  that  to  sum  it  all  up,  the  prospect 
for  us  to  go  against  those  Sioux— a  hundred 
times  as  numerous  as  we  are — seems  to  me  to 
be  either  death  at  their  hands  or  by  the  hard 
ships  of  the  journey,  and  it  looks  like  anything 
but  a  cheerful  prospect  to  me. ' ' 

The  faces  were  indeed  solemn  and  serious 
that  at  the  conclusion  of  this  address  of  the 
leader  glanced  instinctively  for  a  moment  upon 
the  opening  in  the  forest  which  led  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Sioux 

There  now  ensued  a  long  silence  and  deep 
meditation.  Then  Traveling-the-Heavens  looked 
up  and  inquired :  "Well,  if  you  think  it  is  impos 
sible  to  return  on  account  of  the  way  they  will 
laugh  at  us,  and  impossible  to  go  against  the 
Sioux  on  account  of  the  hardness  and  desperate- 
ness  of  it  (and  we  all  see  that  it  must  be  hard 
in  the  extreme)  what  else  is  there  to  do?  I  do 
not  see  anything  else  to  be  done,  but  either  to 
give  it  up  or  go  through  with  it.  But  perhaps 
you  know  something  else ;  you  are  the  leader. ' ' 


218  THE  OJIBWAY 

"Yes,  I  am  the  leader,"  said  Sha-bosh-kunk ; 
"I  am  the  chief,  and  it  is  my  part  to  say  what 
shall  be  done,  and  yours  to  obey.  I  have  been 
thinking  during  the  past  night,  while  you  were 
sleeping,  how  to  extricate  you  out  of  this  fix. 
Yes,  and  to  extricate  myself;  for  I  have  talked 
so  much  to  the  people  about  coming  on  this  trip, 
and  made  it  so  public,  and  the  people  expect  so 
much  from  me  on  account  of  what  I  have  said, 
that  it  would  never  do  for  me  to  go  back,  with 
out  doing  something.  I  have  found  a  way,  then, 
and  it  is  the  only  way,  to  save  our  reputations ; 
to  make  it  so  that  the  Indians  will  not  laugh 
at  us,  and  I  will  tell  you  right  out  what  it  is." 

Here  he  stopped  for  a  time  and  looked  at 
them,  taking  his  eyes  from  the  forest,  where 
they  had  mostly  been  while  he  was  revolving 
the  chances  of  their  expedition.  He  was  now 
approaching  the  perilous  edge,  and  he  wanted 
to  see  how  the  proposition  he  had  to  make  would 
be  received. 

"I  will  come  right  to  the  point,  and  as  I  said, 
will  tell  you  right  out  what  it  is.  It  is  to  go  and 
kill  0-kun-di-kun  and  his  family  and  take  their 
scalps  with  us  to  Gull  Lake,  as  if  they  were 
Sioux  scalps;  and  nobody  will  ever  know  the 
difference." 

Silence  and  astonishment  fell  on  the  listeners 
as  these  words  were  pronounced.  They  first 
looked  on  the  speaker  in  blank  amazement,  and 
then  looked  down  in  profound  thought.  Only 
their  eyelids,  winking  as  they  thought  intently, 
kept  one  from  thinking  that  they  were  statues. 

At  last  the  silence  was  broken.     "I  for  my 


THE  OJIBWAY  219 

part,"  said  Traveling-the-Heavens,  "have 
never  killed  any  of  my  fellow-Indians  in  my  life, 
and  I  think  it  a  very  hard  thing  to  do.  I  am 
ready  enough  to  kill  a  Sioux,  for  they  kill  us; 
but  to  kill  one  of  my  fellow  0  jib  ways  is  a  differ 
ent  matter.  And  then  that  man  entertained  us 
kindly;  took  us  into  his  lodge,  and  I  think  it 
hard  to  kill  him.' ' 

"It  is  he  that  will  kill  himself,"  answered 
Sha-bosh-kunk,  "and  not  you  or  I.  What  is  he 
doing  but  killing  himself,  coming  away  here, 
far  from  the  main  body  of  his  people?  Does 
he  not  know  that  there  are  Sioux  prowling 
around  here,  and  that  he  is  almost  certain  to 
be  killed  by  them  ?  Is  he  not,  as  it  were,  present 
ing  his  body  to  them  to  be  killed?  He  has  for 
feited  his  life  by  coming  away  off  here  in  such 
a  rash  manner,  and  it  is  all  the  same  whether 
he  is  killed  by  the  Sioux  or  by  us.  And  if  we 
should  go  away  and  leave  him  here  the  chances 
all  are  that  he  would  be  killed  by  the  Sioux 
before  the  season  is  over.  So  he  may  just  as 
well  give  his  scalps  to  us,  who  have  use  for 
them,  as  to  the  Sioux." 

" There  is  one  thing  about  it,"  said  the  other 
brave,  The-First-Heavens,  "that  I  do  not  like 
to  do.  I  have  pity  on  those  young  people  that 
we  saw,  and  I  think  it  hard  that  I  should  kill 
any  of  them.  The  old  folks,  as  our  chief  says, 
are,  as  it  were,  giving  up  their  bodies  to  the 
Sioux  by  coming  away  off  out  here  by  them 
selves  in  this  exposed  position ;  but  those  young 
people,  it  is  hard  to  kill  them.  They  are  inno 
cent,  and  not  to  blame. ' ' 


220  THE  OJIBWAY 

' '  Their  father  is  the  one  who  is  to  blame  for 
their  losing  their  lives/'  said  Sha-bosh-kunk, 
"and  not  we.  He  had  no  business  bringing 
them  out  here;  and  he  is  responsible  for  their 
deaths.  He  has  put  them  in  a  position  where 
they  can  hardly  escape  being  killed  by  the  Sioux, 
and  if  they  die  he  is  the  cause  of  it. ' ' 

"But,"  said  Traveling- the-Heavens,  after  a 
long  silence,  "if  we  kill  these  people  and  go 
home  with  their  scalps  we  shall  be  found  out. 
Our  people  will  know  that  we  have  not  been  out 
a  long  enough  time  to  go  to  the  Sioux  country 
and  back;  and  learning,  as  they  will,  that  this 
family  has  been  killed,  why  it  will  be  plain  that 
we  have  been  the  killers  of  them,  for  we  shall 
have  been  gone  just  about  the  proper  time  to 
reach  them,  and  we  came  in  this  direction.  So 
it  will  be  perfectly  plain  what  we  have  been 
doing." 

"I  have  thought  over  all  of  that  and  arranged 
it  all,"  answered  Sha-bosh-kunk.  "If  we  went 
back  now  it  would  indeed  be  plain  what  we  have 
done;  but  I  am  not  such  a  fool  as  that.  We 
shall  camp  here  a  certain  number  of  days  after 
ward,  and  occupy  their  wigwam,  where  we  shall 
be  dry  and  comfortable.  It  is  all  made,  ready  to 
our  hand.  And  then  when  there  has  been  time 
enough  for  us  to  have  gone  to  the  Sioux  country 
and  back,  we  shall  go  quietly  to  Gull  Lake  vil 
lage.  No  one  will  ever  know  anything  about  it 
but  ourselves— we  shall  be  perfectly  safe.  We 
need  not  have  any  fear  that  any  persons  will 
accidentally  come  out  here  from  Gull  Lake  and 
find  us  in  that  wigwam  and  those  bodies  lying 


THE  OJIBWAY  221 

around.  No  one  of  our  people  has  any  business 
out  this  way,  unless  they  are  going  to  war,  and 
we  know  that  none  of  them  are  thinking  of  going 
to  war  now.  We  are  the  only  ones,  it  seems,  who 
are  foolish  enough  to  go  to  war  at  such  a  cursed 
time  as  this.  No ;  only  their  relatives  at  Leech 
Lake  will  come  down  here  to  look  for  them,  after 
a  long  time,  when  they  do  not  make  their  appear 
ance,  but  not  now.  Did  you  not  hear  O-kun- 
di-kun  tell  that  he  expected  to  stay  out  a  month ! 
It  is  true  that  after  the  expiration  of  the  month 
their  relatives  will  come  down  here  to  look  for 
them  and  will  find  their  mangled  bodies;  will 
see  that  they  were  scalped,  and  will  conclude, 
as  is  natural,  that  Sioux  have  done  it.  Their 
war  parties  are  always  prowling  about,  liable 
to  come  any  time  except  in  winter,  and  it  will 
be  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  to  lay 
it  to  them.  Besides,  I  have  got  the  very  thing 
that  will  clinch  that  supposition  and  make  it  a 
certainty— here  is  a  piece  of  Sioux  bead-work 
that  I  have  had  a  long  time.  I  thought  it  might 
be  useful  to  me  at  some  time  in  some  way.  I 
shall  leave  that  lying  near  the  bodies,  and  when 
the  relatives  find  it,  as  they  immediately  will, 
why,  there  is  the  proof  positive  of  the  presence 
of  the  Sioux,  and  that  the  deed  was  done  by 
them.  And  when  they  carry  that  bead-work 
home  to  Leech  Lake  every  one  will  immediately 
recognize  that  no  Ojibway  made  it. 

"I  have  thought  this  thing  all  out,"  he  con 
tinued,  and  raising  his  voice,  "while  you  fellows 
were  sleeping,  as  I  said,  for  I  know  I  am  respon 
sible  for  you,  having  brought  you  here,  and  I 


THE  OJIBWAY 

must  save  you,  I  have  guarded  the  matter  at 
every  point  that  by  no  possibility  can  suspicion 
ever  be  directed  to  us,  but  that  the  knowledge 
of  this  will  remain  with  ourselves  alone.  I  know 
that  I  have  more  sense  than  you.  I  ought  to 
have,  being  older,  while  you  are  but  young  and 
foolish;  and  it  lies  upon  me  as  your  chief  to 
lead  you  safely  out  of  this  scrape  without  harm 
and  without  disgrace.  Now  I  have  told  you  the 
way  and  I  expect  you  to  fall  in  with  it.  We 
shall  gain  credit  by  bringing  home  these  scalps 
—credit  for  our  endurance  in  having  made  such 
a  journey  there  and  back  in  such  frightful 
weather  as  this,  and  credit  for  our  courage  in 
rushing  right  in  upon  them  in  their  skin  lodges 
and  scalping  them,  and  bringing  home  the 
scalps.  Hereafter,  when  they  dance,  you  young 
men  shall  not  have  to  hang  back  as  if  you  were 
ashamed  of  yourselves  because  you  have  nothing 
to  put  in  your  hair,  while  other  young  fellows 
not  half  as  good  as  you  press  joyfully  to  the 
front,  their  eagles '  feathers  waving  and  nodding 
as  they  dance.  From  this  time  on  you  will  be 
just  as  good  as  the  best  of  them,  for  you  will 
have  proved  your  manhood. " 

Here  another  thought  came  into  his  mind, 
derived  from  his  past  observation  of  the  young 
men,  and  of  what  he  knew  them  to  be  thinking 
about.  So  he  proceeded  to  use  it. 

"And  the  girls— you  know  how  they  give  the 
preference  to  those  whose  manhood  has  been 
proved.  You  have  often  suffered  from  that 
cause  in  the  past.  I  know  you  have,  for  I  have 
seen  you.  I  have  seen  the  girls  go  off  with  others 


THE  OJIBWAY  223 

that  were  not  as  good  looking,  nor  as  good  hunt 
ers,  nor  as  manly  as  you ;  have  seen  them  leave 
you  standing  sheepishly  alone.  But  it  shall  be 
so  no  longer— now  is  the  opportunity  to  put 
yourselves  on  an  equality  with  the  best  of  them. 
Hereafter  the  best  girls  and  the  handsomest  will 
think  themselves  honored  by  going  with  you, ' ' 

All  this  opened  a  flattering  prospect  to  the 
meditative  young  men,  and  an  easy  exit  out  of 
what  was  a  very  disagreeable  predicament. 
All  other  sides  of  the  question  seemed  to  be 
walled  in  by  impossibilities;  here  only  opened 
a  natural  aperture  of  escape— escape  without 
loss  of  credit  and  with  great  positive  gain; 
acquisition  of  the  very  things  they  wanted,  and 
for  which  they  came. 

All  these  things  had  their  force  with  them. 
But  suddenly  something  occurred  to  The-First- 
Heavens,  and  he  spoke  up:  "But  perhaps," 
said  he, l  i  the  people  will  recognize  that  those  are 
not  Sioux  heads  that  we  shall  have  brought 
home;  they  have  all  seen  0-kun-di-kun  and  his 
family,  and  perhaps  they  may  recognize  that  the 
heads  are  theirs ! ' '  There  was  a  rising  tone  of 
alarm  in  his  voice  as  this  thought  came  over 
him. 

"I  have  thought  over  all  of  that,"  said  Sha^ 
bosh-kunk,  ' '  for  indeed  there  is  nothing  relating 
to  it  that  I  have  not  thought  over,  and  we  have 
no  reason  to  fear  on  that  account.  We  shall  not 
take  the  features,  of  course,  but  only  the  hair ; 
and  it  is  all  the  same— it  is  hair,  whether  it  be 
0  jib  way  hair  or  Sioux  hair,  and  there  is  no  dif 
ference.  We  can  all  of  us  tell  a  Sioux  moccasin 


224  THE  OJIBWAY 

from  an  Ojibway,  and  we  can  all  tell  a  piece  of 
Sioux  bead-work  from  Ojibway,  or  any  part  of 
their  garments  from  ours ;  but  who  ever  heard 
of  being  able  to  tell  Ojibway  hair  from  Sioux? 
No  one  can  tell  it,  for  there  is  no  difference. 
Perhaps  we  have  now  discussed  this  matter  long 
enough, ' '  he  said,  raising  his  voice.  ' '  I  am  the 
leader  and  I  will  take  all  the  responsibility,  and 
all  you  have  to  do  is  to  obey  me.  I  bear  the 
blame,  if  blame  there  be,  for  I  command  you, 
my  young  men,  to  do  it,  and  it  is  your  duty  as 
men  and  soldiers  to  obey  your  chief.  If  any  one 
ever  says  anything  to  you,  just  refer  them  to 
me— I  ordered  it.  And  it  seems  to  me, ' '  he  went 
on,  meditatively,  "that  this  man  was  destined 
to  die  at  this  very  time  and  in  this  very  place. 
I  do  not  believe  he  could  get  around  it,  for  I 
do  not  think  any  man  can  get  around  the  day 
and  the  place  when  he  is  to  die.  Let  him  try 
ever  so  hard  to  live,  yet  in  spite  of  himself  he 
will  come  to  the  very  spot  and  to  the  very  cir 
cumstances  and  to  the  very  means  by  which  he 
is  to  die.  Whether  it  be  by  the  upsetting  of  his 
canoe,  or  by  the  accidental  discharge  of  his  gun, 
or  by  a  sickness  he  has  taken,  or  by  the  hand  of 
his  enemy,  I  believe  he  was  destined  to  be  killed 
by  that  very  man,  and  at  that  very  time,  and 
that  try  as  hard  as  he  may  he  could  not  avoid 
going  there  to  meet  the  death  that  was  waiting 
for  him.  I  believe  that  that  was  destined  for 
him,  at  that  very  time  and  place. 

'  *  See  here  now,  this  man— we  did  not  send  for 
him  to  come  from  Leech  Lake  here,  to  leave  all 
his  own  people  and  come  four  long  days'  travel 


THE  OJIBWAY  225 

into  the  wilderness,  and  bring  his  family  with 
him ;  we  had  no  idea  of  finding  him  here  when 
we  started  out ;  and  we  had  no  idea  that  we  were 
destined  to  kill  him  when  we  slept  with  him  in 
his  wigwam.  We  passed  on  and  left  him,  bade 
good-by  to  him,  and  went  away  for  good  as  we 
thought.  But  no !  Circumstances  stronger  than 
we,  and  that  we  had  no  hand  in  ordering;  that 
we  did  not  even  think  of, — this  prolonged  rain 
storm,  shutting  us  off  from  going  where  we 
wanted,  notwithstanding  our  utmost  striving  to 
go  there, — these  circumstances,  not  of  our  order 
ing,  but  ordered  by  some  one  stronger  than  we, 
who  governs  us,  have  forced  us  right  up  against 
this  man,  and  have,  as  it  were,  said  to  us  in  an 
audible  voice,  l  The  time  has  come  for  this  man 
to  die,  and  the  place;  and  you  are  the  destined 
instruments  of  his  death,— now  fulfill  it !' 

"It  seems  to  me,"  he  said,  with  a  concluding 
flourish,  "that  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  this  man 
should  die,  and  he  has  come  out  here  to  meet 
it  because  he  could  not  avoid  it,  and  because  it 
was  to  be. ' ' 

The  two  young  men  meditated  in  silence  for 
a  considerable  time  on  what  they  had  heard. 
They  were  standing  with  their  backs  to  the  fire, 
warming  themselves,  their  faces  looking  out  to 
the  water-sodden  forest  around.  At  last  The- 
First-Heavens  spoke:  "Well,"  said  he,  "I  do 
not  like  this  business ;  it  is  something  I  never  did 
before  in  my  life.  I  have  never  done  any  harm 
to  any  of  my  fellow-0  jib  ways.  But  if  I  am 
ordered  to  do  it  by  my  chief,  that  alters  the 
case— he  tells  me  to  do  it;  the  responsibility  is 


226  THE  OJIBWAY 

upon  him ;  and  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  obey.  Now 
you  see  that  you  bear  the  responsibility  of  this 
thing,"  he  said,  turning  to  the  chief.  "I  tell 
you  that  I  do  not  like  to  do  it ;  but  if  you  order 
me  to  do  it,  it  is  rny  duty  to  obey,  and  I  shall." 

Hereupon,  Sha-bosh-kunk  reiterated  that  he 
took  the  full  responsibility  upon  himself,  and 
discharged  them  of  all  share  in  it— only  to  obey. 
The  first  having  thus  fallen  into  line,  the  other 
took  his  place  by  him,  saying  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  do  it,  only  he  was  ordered  to  do  it  by 
one  having  lawful  authority  over  him,  so  it  was 
his  business,  and  he  alone  would  have  to  answer 
for  it;  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  only  to 
obey. 

This  matter  having  been  settled  it  was  an 
agreeable  change  not  to  have  to  start  out  tramp 
ing  all  day  in  the  mud  and  water  toward  the 
Sioux  country,  but  to  sit  by  the  fire  for  awhile 
and  warm  themselves,  in  indifference  to  the 
drizzling  rain  that  still  descended.  Having 
decided  that  the  deed  should  be  done,  they  dis 
cussed  the  best  manner  of  doing  it.  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  was  for  going  back  to  the  wigwam  and 
sharing  its  owner's  hospitality,  and  then,  at  a 
certain  time  previously  agreed  upon,  execute 
their  deed.  But  this  did  not  find  favor  with  the 
young  men  who  now  asserted  their  own  indi 
viduality. 

Said  Traveling-the-Heavens :  "I  don't  like 
to  go  and  lie  down  in  peace  and  friendship  with 
Uiat  man,  land  then  rise  up  and  kill  him— it 
seems  to  me  like  deceit  and  treachery,  and  I  am 
not  treacherous.  Whatever  I  do,  good  or  bad, 


THE  OJIBWAY  227 

I  do  openly  and  above-board.  No,  if  we  are 
going  to  play  Sioux,  let  us  be  Sioux— let  us  go 
and  camp  near  him  tonight,  and  at  break  of 
day,  the  time  the  Sioux  always  select,  let  us  rush 
in  upon  him  with  the  Sioux  yell ;  but  let  us  not 
be  deceivers. " 

This  met  with  the  fervent  and  somewhat  de 
monstrative  approval  of  the  other,  which  he 
evinced  very  plainly,  several  times  while  Trav- 
eling-the-Heavens  was  speaking,  by  calling  out 
"mi-gwa-yuk"— "that  is  it,"  "that  is  correct." 
And  so  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  to  consent  to  be  over 
ruled  on  that  point  by  his  young  men,  the  instru 
ments  of  his  execution  being  unanimously  of 
a  contrary  mind  to  him.  It  eased  the  consciences 
of  the  young  men  very  much  to  thus  tempo 
rarily  transform  themselves  into  Sioux— to  as 
sume  a  character,  act  up  to  it,  then,  having  done 
so,  once  more  transform  themselves  into  their 
proper  selves,  throwing  off  with  the  character 
they  had  assumed,  the  actions  that  went  with 
it. 

Everything  having  been  thus  apparently  ar 
ranged  they  again  took  up  their  march,  but 
this  time  with  their  faces  toward  home,  and 
at  first  boldly ;  but  when  they  came  near  the  goal, 
stealthily  they  marched  through  the  forest. 

The  young  men,  however,  were  far  from  sat 
isfied — in  reality,  they  were  very  uneasy  in  their 
minds.  They  often  looked  at  each  other  as  they 
went  along,  and  unknown  to  their  chief  made  it 
known  to  each  other  that  they  wished  a  private 
conference  between  themselves.  They  purposely 
lagged  behind,  though  afraid  to  excite  his  sus- 


228  THE  OJIBWAY 

picion;  and  when  they  were  out  of  earshot  be 
gan  to  speak. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this!"  asked  The- 
First-Heavens. 

"This  seems  a  doubtful  matter  to  me,"  du 
biously  answered  his  companion. 

"It  seems  a  very  doubtful  matter  to  me,"  said 
The-First-Heavens,  decidedly. 

"We  are  in  a  most  terible  predicament;  and 
my  mind  is  very  uneasy, ' '  returned  his  compan 
ion. 

"Are  you  satisfied  to  go  on  and  do  what  is 
proposed  to  us?"  queried  The-First-Heavens. 

"I  am  far  from  satisfied.  If  there  was  any 
other  thing  we  could  possibly  do,  I  would  be 
overjoyed." 

"And  I.  It  hangs  like  a  terrible  nightmare 
over  me  since  we  assented  to  it. ' ' 

"This  comes  from  our  association  with  this 
man,"  said  Traveling- the-Heavens.  "We  went 
to  Leech  Lake  with  him,  and  saw  him  get  those 
goods  from  those  people  for  nothing;  and  now 
again  from  being  with  him  we  are  in  this  fix, 
that  we  must  either  kill  these  people  or  be  ru 
ined." 

"We  did  not  help  in  any  way  what  he  did  at 
Leech  Lake,"  returned  The-First-Heavens. 
"We  were  simply  employed  by  him,  and  did 
what  he  told  us." 

"Yes,  and  that  has  got  us  into  this  by  keeping 
on  with  him, ' '  said  Traveling-the-Heavens. 

"If  we  had  not  been  employed  by  him  at  Leech 
Lake,  some  others  would,  and  it  would  have 


THE  OJIBWAY  229 

turned  out  just  the  same,"  his  companion  re 
plied. 

"Yes,  but  we  have  heard  the  old  people,  say, 
and  it  was  a  part  of  their  preaching  to  us,  'kego 
inagaaken  au  kidj-anishinabe'— 'do  not  inflict 
injury  on  your  fellow-beings';  and  we  stood 
there  and  saw  old  widows  robbed  of  their  goods, 
and  said  nothing,  although  we  knew  they  were 
being  robbed.  We  made  up  the  packs  and  help 
ed  to  carry  them  off.  We  knew  all  about  that 
lucifer  match,  for  we  had  seen  it  at  Gull  Lake. 
I  would  not  care  so  much  about  the  braves,  for 
they  are  strong  and  able  to  look  out  for  them 
selves,  but  the  poor  old  widows !  Now  this  has 
come  upon  us. ' ' 

"We  had  better  have  said  something,  or  we 
had  better  have  gone  away  and  left  them  when 
we  saw  what  was  going  to  be  done,"  returned 
The-First-Heavens.  "  But  we  did  not.  We  were 
taken  by  surprise. " 

"And  we  helped  to  pack  up  and  carry  off 
those  goods, ' '  said  Traveling-the-Heavens.  i  i  So 
we  in  a  manner  joined  in  it.  Yet  we  only  obeyed 
our  chief.  But  there  is  no  use  talking  about  it," 
said  he,  raising  his  voice;  "that  is  past.  The 
question  is, '  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  this 
thing  that  is  before  us?'  " 

* '  My  mind  is  not  clear  what  to  do, ' '  said  The- 
First-Heavens.  "We  cannot  go  to  the  Sioux, 
and  we  cannot  go  to  our  village.  So  we  are 
forced  right  up  against  this  thing,  and  yet  my 
mind  is  not  clear  to  do  it.  So  I  do  not  know 
what  to  do.  I  feel  most  miserable." 

"It  is  true  our  chief  tells  us  to  do  it,"  ob- 


230  THE  OJIBWAY 

served  Traveling-the-Heavens,  "and  I  suppose 
that  ought  to  be  warrant  enough  for  us.  That 
was  another  part  of  the  "  preaching "  of  the  old 
Indians  to  us.  '  Obey  your  chief.  Submit  your 
self  to  him.  He  is  responsible. '  ' ' 

1  i  Yes,  that  ought  to  cover  our  case,  ' '  said  The- 
First-Heavens,  "and  that  was  what  really  made 
us  assent  when  we  just  now  gave  our  consent  to 
Sha-bosh-kunk.  And  yet  I  feel  very  uneasy. 
Notwithstanding  that  precept,  I  can  not  bear  to 
do  it.  There  is  something  wrong. ' J 

"Then  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 
asked  his  companion. 

"I  must  think  over  it  more,"  said  he.  "My 
mind  is  just  on  the  balance.  Sometimes  I  see  it 
quite  clear  that  I  ought  to  obey  my  chief,  and 
then  my  mind  swings  into  the  other  groove,  and 
I  see  that  I  ought  not  to  do  this  thing. ' ' 

"And  when  will  you  have  time  to  think  and 
decide?"  asked  Traveling-the-Heavens. 

"While  I  am  walking  along  here,"  replied 
The-First-Heavens,  "I  will  have  time  to  make 
up  my  mind  one  way  or  the  other  before  we  get 
to  camp.  My  mind  will  clear  itself,  and  I  shall 
be  sure. ' ' 

"I  have  noticed,"  said  his  companion,  "when 
I  have  been  traveling  above  a  rapids  or  a 
water-fall  in  my  canoe,  that  when  I  am  some 
ways  above  it  I  can  get  out  and  not  go  over, 
though  the  water  runs  swift;  but  that  if  I  put  off 
too  long,  and  go  too  near  the  verge  I  am  bound 
to  go  over  the  fall,  let  me  struggle  as  I  will 
against  it.  You  say  you  are  thinking  about  what 
you  ought  to  do,  but  you  keep  going  nearer  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  231 

nearer  to  that  man  and  his  family;  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  in  the  end  you  will  do  it  whether  you 
like  it  or  not,  because  you  wil  have  to.  You 
are  just  like  me  in  my  canoe  above  the  rapids. " 

"But  what  can  I  do?  I  have  not  yet  made 
up  my  mind  one  way  or  the  other,  and  I  must 
think  about  it.  I  cannot  stop  here  and  think.  I 
must  go  on  with  Sha-bosh-kunk  to  where  we 
will  camp,  and  think  there.  I  hope  I  can  make 
up  my  mind  there.  Now  what  are  you  going  to 
do  about  it  ? "  he  asked. 

* '  I  am  very  much  like  you, ' '  answered  Trav 
eling- tihe-Haevens.  "I  do  not  know  what  to 
think,  nor  how  to  get  out  of  this.  I  am  just 
drifting  along  as  circumstances  carry  me.  What 
will  be  the  end  I  am  sure  I  do  not  know.  I  wish 
I  did." 

"If  there  was  any  other  village  we  could  go 
to  and  live,"  said  The-First-Heavens,  "while 
the  Indians  are  laughing  at  us  about  turning 
back,  and  then  come  back  to  our  homes  after  it 
had  died  out,  but  there  is  not.  Even  if  we  aban 
doned  our  homes  and  our  village  forever,  and 
went  to  Mille  Lacs  or  Leech  Lake  to  live,  or  Ot 
ter  Tail,  it  would  be  just  as  bad  there.  They 
will  hear  of  it  there  just  as  soon  as  at  Gull  Lake, 
and  they  will  laugh  at  us  just  as  much. 

1 '  They  will  make  fun  of  us  wherever  we  go, ' ' 
said  Traveling-the-Iieavens  despairingly. 

"Yes,  we  seem  to  be  shut  out  from  the  whole 
world,"  returned  The-First-Heavens.  "There 
is  no  other  place  in  the  whole  world  where  we 
can  go  and  not  be  known  unless  we  go  to  the 


232  THE  OJIBWAY 

Sioux,  and  they,  of  course,  would  kill  us  at 
sight. " 

"It  seems  to  me  we  shall  either  have  to  be 
killed  by  them  or  kill  ourselves  to  avoid  this 
disgrace, "  said  Traveling-the-Heavens. 

' '  It  is  not  so  bad  as  that  yet, ' '  said  The-First- 
Heavens.  "Let  us  think  over  it  a  while,  and 
we  shall  find  some  way  out. ' ' 

"Yes,  you  think,  and  think,  and  think,"  in 
terrupted  his  companion,  "but  you  keep  going 
toward  0-kun-di-kun.  You  may  think  all  your 
life,  and  you  will  not  find  any  safe  way  out 
of  it." 

"I  hate  very  much  to  abandon  our  village  and 
our  home  forever,  even  if  it  were  possible  to 
do  that  and  be  unknown,"  resumed  The-First- 
Heavens  pensively.  "  It  is  like  breaking  off  our 
whole  life.  It  is  dreadful  to  think  of. ' ' 

"And  have  you  any  particular  reason,  more 
than  I,  to  dread  it?"  asked  his  companion. 

"Yes,  I  have,"  said  The-First-Heavens.  "You 
know  the  girl  there  that  I  like,  old  Ogema's 
daughter.  Oh,  she  is  the  finest  girl  in 
Gull  Lake  village!  She  always  puts  me  in 
mind  of  a  deer,  the  way  she  carries  her 
self,  with  her  chest  out  and  her  head  up,  and 
such  perfect  command  of  herself.  She  looks  as 
if  she  might  jump  like  a  deer  any  minute.  And 
when  she  has  on  a  well-tanned  coat  of  deer 
skin,  trimmed  with  blue  and  red  ribbons,  and 
deer-skin  leggings,  is  not  she  a  pretty  girl !  And 
she  has  the  richest  blush  of  red  on  her  cheek! 
And  she  is  not  one  of  that  kind  of  girls  that  go 
with  everybody,  either, ' '  he  said,  with  increasing 


THE  OJIBWAY  233 

interest.  "That  may  be  said  about  other  girls 
in  our  town,  but  it  cannot  be  said  about  her. 
No  one  can  say  but  that  she  has  always  been  and 
is  a  perfectly  straight  girl.  Well,  she  has  show 
ed  me,  although  she  has  never  said  so  in  words, 
that  she  looks  with  favor  on  me.  I  can  tell  it 
sometimes  by  the  way  she  looks  at  me.  And  I 
would  think  myself  the  proudest  man  in  Gull 
Lake  if  I  had  her,  for  she  is  the  finest  girl 
there.  But  she  has  given  me  to  understand, 
though  she  has  never  said  that  either,  but  by 
her  manner  some  way  she  has  made  me  to  know 
that  she  expects  me  to  distinguish  myself  h], 
some  way  before  she  marries  me.  That  she  ex 
pects  the  one  whom  she  will  marry  to  prove  his 
manhood ;  to  show  in  some  way  that  he  ib  worthy 
of  her,  and  not  a  common  stay-at-home  lout. 
She  knows  her  own  value  perfectly  well,  and  she 
wishes  the  man  whom  she  will  choose  for  her 
husband  to  be  somewhat  worthy  of  her. ' ' 

"And  it  was  to  please  her,  partly,  that  you 
joined  this  war-party?"  asked  Traveling-the- 
Heavens. 

"That  was  what  most  influenced  me,"  said 
The-First-Heavens ; ' l  and  on  her  account  I  think 
it  very  hard  to  forever  abandon  our  village  as 
we  have  been  talking  about  doing.  I  would  see 
her  no  more,  and  I  might  as  well  take  leave  of 
life  itself  as  that.  And  I  cannot  bear  to  go  back 
to  our  village  and  see  the  look  that  she  would 
give  me  if  I  turned  back  on  account  of  a  little 
rain!" 

Here  their  colloquy  was  interrupted  by  Sha- 
bosh-kunk.  He  did  not  think  it  safe  to  leave 


234  THE  OJIBWAY 

them  too  much  alone  by  themselves,  so  he  had 
purposely  waited  for  them.  He  knew  that  not 
withstanding  their  assent  given,  they  were 
in  a  most  irresolute  and  shaky  condition  of  mind, 
and  that  his  stronger  will  could  alone  keep  them 
steady  to  the  point. 

' '  Keep  up,  keep  up, ' '  he  said,  '  l  do  not  lag  be 
hind.  We  were  late  of  starting  and  we  have  a 
long  distance  to  go.  We  shall  hardly  get  there 
before  dark."  He  noticed  that  they  had  been 
talking  together  as  they  came  up,  and  he  stuck 
to  them  closely  all  the  rest  of  the  way  till  they 
got  to  the  place  where  they  were  to  camp. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  chose  a  place  as  near  to  the 
wigwam  of  their  quondam  entertainer  as  he 
deemed  prudent— near  enough  to  be  easily 
reached,  but  not  near  enough  for  their  presence 
to  be  detected ;  and  there  they  made  their  camp. 
While  there  they  could  hear  the  sound  of  0-kun- 
di-kun's  wife's  ax  as  she  chopped  wood  for  the 
evening  fire,  and  the  barking  of  his  dog. 

Before  they  lay  down  to  sleep  the  two  young 
men  managed  to  slip  off  together  to  a  quiet  place 
at  one  side  of  the  camp,  under  pretence  of  gath 
ering  some  wood  for  the  fire,  and  have  a  brief 
conference. 

"What  do  you  think  now  you  are  going  to 
do?"  asked  Traveling-the-Heavens  of  his  com 
panion. 

"I  have  not  been  able  to  decide  yet,"  de- 
spondingly  answered  The-First-Heavens.  "My 
mind  is  not  yet  clear  as  to  what  is  right  to  do. 
Sometimes  I  think  one  way,  and  sometimes  I 
think  the  other.  The  fact  is,  that  with  Sha-bosh- 


THE  OJIBWAY  235 

kunk  talking  to  us  as  we  came  along,  I  could  not 
concentrate  my  mind  upon  it  so  as  to  decide 
just  what  we  ought  to  do.  But  I  mean,  when  we 
have  lain  down,  and  when  everything  is  quiet, 
to  think  it  all  over,  and  decide  what  is  to  be 
done  and  do  it.  When  we  have  lain  down  will 
be  the  most  favorable  opportunity.  I  haven't 
really  had  a  good  opportunity  yet. ' ' 

"You  may  think,  and  think,  and  think  about 
it  till  you  die,  and  you  will  never  know  any 
more  about  it,  nor  be  any  nearer  deciding  than 
you  are  now, ' '  answered  his  companion. 

i  l  Yes,  I  will, ' '  said  he.  i  i  When  everything  is 
perfectly  quiet  and  I  can  reflect  I  shall  see 
clearly  what  to  do.  And  what  do  you  think  of 
doing?"  he  inquired. 

"Oh,  I  am  just  drifting  along,"  answered 
Traveling-the-Heavens.  ' i  I  can  think  of  no  way 
out,  nor  anything  to  do.  Circumstances  too 
strong  for  me  bear  me  along  where  they  will, 
and  I  do  not  know  what  will  become  of  me.  I 
only  know  that  I  am  most  miserable." 

"You  are  not  half  so  wretched  as  I,"  rejoined 
The-First-Heavens.  "If  one  grain  of  the  misery 
I  feel  this  moment  were  mixed  among  all  the 
people  of  the  world,  they  would  die ;  for  it  would 
make  their  bodies  so  bitter  they  could  not  live!'' 

"And  I  think  if  one  drop  of  the  blood  in  my 
body  were  cast  into  Gull  Lake,  all  the  fish  in  it 
would  die,  it  would  be  so  bitter,"  said  his  com 
panion.  "I  have  been  a  happy  man  all  my  life 
till  now.  I  have  danced  and  sung  through  life 
from  very  happiness.  But  I  feel  that  I  shall 
never  again  know  happiness.  No  matter  how 


236  THE  OJIBWAY 

this  thing  turns  out,  I  feel  that  since  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  proposed  this  thing  to  us,  my  peace  is  for 
ever  gone.  I  shall  be  a  sad  man  all  my  life." 

Here  again  their  conference  was  cut  short  by 
Sha-bosh-kunk,  who  quickly  missed  them,  and 
suspecting  that  something  was  passing  between 
them,  called  them  as  loudly  as  he  dared  without 
making  his  voice  heard  at  Okun-di-kun  's  camp, 
and  sought  them. 

"Come,  come,"  he  said,  "it  is  time  to  lie 
down.  Break  off  those  cedar  boughs  quick  and 
spread  them  by  the  fire  and  make  yourselves  a 
bed.  Now  don't  waste  any  time  about  it,  but 
hurry. ' ' 

There  being  no  chance  for  any  further  con 
ference,  they  mechanically  complied— made 
their  bed  of  boughs,  and  wrapping  themselves 
in  their  blankets  lay  down.  Sha-bosh-kunk  sat 
up  to  tend  the  fire. 

The-First-Heavens  did  indeed  think  long  and 
earnestly  about  it  while  lying  there  as  he  had 
said;  but  he  could  come  to  no  certain  conclusion. 
Sometimes  he  thought  that  the  command  of  his 
chief  absolved  him  from  all  responsibility  in  the 
matter,  and  then  again  he  thought  not.  He  was 
most  anxious  to  come  out  right,  and  not  lose 
the  approval  of  his  lady-love,  and  yet  although 
he  so  earnestly  desired  that,  he  was  not  willing 
to  do  anything  that  was  wrong.  In  the  most 
painful  state  of  uncertainty  he  lay  there  revolv 
ing  the  matter.  He  looked  up  at  the  blackness 
above  him;  at  the  trunks  of  the  trees  dimly  ap 
pearing  in  the  light ;  at  the  fire,  and  at  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  sitting  there.  He  could  come  to  no  certain 


THE  OJIBWAY  237 

conclusion  what  to  do,  and  only  knew  that  he 
was  unspeakably  wretched.  Finally  it  occurred 
to  him  to  put  off  the  time  of  decision  still  longer. 
He  said  to  himself,  "My  brain  is  all  in 
a  whirl  now;  I  have  thought  over  this  thing, 
trying  to  see  what  is  right  to  do,  till  I  am 
almost  crazy;  and  I  am  not  in  a  fit  state  to 
come  to  any  decision.  The  best  thing  I  can  do 
is  to  go  to  sleep,  and  sleep  will  clear  my  mind ; 
and  in  the  morning  when  I  wake  my  mind  will 
be  clear,  and  I  shall  see  clearly  then  what  I  ought 
to  do.  The  first  view  that  I  have  of  the  subject 
in  the  morning  will  be  the  right  one,  and  that  I 
will  take. ' '  With  that  he  composed  himself  and 
tried  to  sleep.  It  gave  a  temporary  relief  to  his 
mind  thus  to  put  off  a  little  farther  the  evil  day 
of  decision,  and  he  slept.  There  is  a  sleep  pro 
duced  by  very  wretchedness— the  sleep  that  the 
condemned  criminal  has  the  night  before  his  exe 
cution.  Such  sleep  was  his  as  he  lay  there  on 
his  bed  of  cedar  boughs.  His  companion  did  not 
worry  so  much.  He  had  abandoned  himself  in  a 
kind  of  stony  despair  to  what  he  thought  was 
the  inevitable.  Finding  no  way  of  escape  from 
the  entaglement  in  which  he  was,  he  had  ceased 
to  struggle.  He  did  not  delude  himself  as  did 
The-First-Heavens,  by  thinking  that  before  the 
time  came  he  would  be  able  to  see  clearly  what 
was  right,  and  do  it.  He  expected  nothing  bet 
ter  than  what  he  was  then,  nor  to  see  anything 
more  clearly  than  he  did  that  minute.  Finally, 
after  long  lying  there,  the  sleep  of  the  wretched 
came  to  him  also,  and  for  the  time  he  was  freed 
from  his  misery. 


238  THE  OJIBWAY 

Sha-bosk-kunk  kept  watch  to  rouse  them  at 
the  first  peep  of  day.  Thus  the  long  night  wore 
away — the  solitary  watcher  sitting  looking  at 
the  fire,  the  sleepers  beside  him  looking  like  dead 
men.  At  last  there  was  an  almost  imperceptible 
lightening  of  the  sky.  Sha-bosh-kunk  cast  his 
face  upward  once  or  twice  to  make  sure  that  it 
was  really  the  dawn,  then  roused  his  compan 
ions.  There  was  a  hurried  flinging  aside  of 
blankets  from  their  faces  and  the  young  men 
sat  up.  They  had  slept  with  their  ordinary 
clothes  on,  except  their  moccasins  and  these,  in 
obedience  to  the  suggestion  of  Sha-bosh-kunk, 
they  now  began  tying  on. 

Their  spirits  were  depressed  by  the  cold,  gray, 
cheerless  morning,  and  by  being  untimely  roused 
from  their  sleep,  which  had  been  short,  because 
revolving  the  matter  they  had  lain  awake  late 
into  the  night.  The  consciousness  of  what  they 
were  expected  to  do  now  came  full  upon  them, 
and  it  looked  even  uglier  to  them  than  it  had 
done  before.  They  were  more  than  ever  re 
luctant  to  undertake  it.  They  had  moral 
strength  enough  to  ineffectually  struggle  against 
their  leader,  but  not  enough  to  break  away  from 
him. 

' '  Oh,  I  do  most  mortally  hate  this  thing ! ' '  said 
The-First-Heavens  as  he  was  tying  the  thongs. 
"I  have  never  done  such  a  thing  before,  and  I 
abominate  it.  Mind  you  hear  me  say,"  he  re 
marked  to  his  companion,  "that  I  do  not  wish 
to  do  it  and  that  I  only  do  it  because  I  am  driven 
to  it." 

"And   I,"    returned    Traveling-the-Heavens, 


THE  OJIBWAY  239 

"do  not  like  it  any  more  than  you  do,  and  even 
now  if  there  were  any  way  out  I  would  gladly 
take  it.  You  hear  me  say  that,  and  you  hear  me 
say  that  I  only  do  it  because  I  am  ordered  by 
my  chief  to  do  it. ' ' 

"I  wish  I  was  dead,  rather  than  feel  so  badly 
as  I  do  this  minute !"  said  The-First-Heavens. 

"I  go  farther  than  you,"  rejoined  Travel- 
ing-the-Heavens ;  "I  wish  I  had  never  been  born 
rather  than  have  come  to  this  day. ' ' 

"I  now  see  clearly  that  this  is  wrong,"  said 
The-First-Heavens, ' l  and  yet  I  am  going  to  do  it 
because  I  have  come  so  far  that  there  is  no  avoid 
ing  it.  But  oh,  how  I  wish  that  there  was  some 
way  out  of  it!  I  would  gladly  turn  back,  even 
now,  if  it  were  possible.  Isn't  there  some  way 
of  doing  something  else?" 

"It  is  now  too  late  to  think  or  to  talk  anything 
about  it,"  replied  Sha-bosh-kunk.  "We  settled 
all  of  that  yesterday,  settled  that  it  was  to  be 
done,  and  that  it  was  the  only  thing  to  do.  It 
is  too  late  to  unsettle  it  now.  Hurry  up.  Tie 
on  your  mocasins  quickly.  Don't  you  see  the 
dawn  spreading?  If  we  delay  any  longer,  talk 
ing  folly,  0-kun-di-kun,  and  his  family  will  have 
waked,  and  we  shall  be  too  late.  Hurry,  take 
your  weapons  at  once  and  come. ' ' 

With  that  the  young  men,  sighing,  and  with 
evident  signs  of  deep  distress  and  reluctance, 
took  their  weapons  and  started  after  their  lead 
er. 

After  they  left  there  was  silence  for  a  while, 
more  profound,  if  possible,  than  the  silence  of 
the  night.  Then  there  uprose,  all  at  once,  a  hor- 


240  THE  OJIBWAY 

rible  clamor— dreadful  yells,  the  firing  of  guns, 
the  barking  of  a  dog,  agonizing  cries  of  distress, 
of  mortal  agony ;  cries  for  help,  cries  of  fear,  a 
dreadful  pandemonium  of  sounds  of  horrible  im 
port,  such  as  humanity  in  its  direst  need  could 
utter,  as  if  hell  had  in  some  mysterious  way 
opened  in  that  particular  spot  and  was  giving 
vent,  as  through  a  funnel,  to  all  the  pent-up 
anguish  and  wild  despair  that  reigned  within. 
When  these  dread  sounds  had  for  a  while  dis 
mayed  the  ear  and  sickened  the  heart,  they  were 
succeeded  by  a  calm  as  profound  as  before— the 
calm  of  death.  Going  to  the  place  one  saw  the 
bloody  and  disfigured  bodies  of  the  slain  family, 
and  Sba-bosh-kunk  and  his  men  bending  over 
them,  carefully,  and  Sha-bosh-kunk  somewhat 
artistically  lifting  the  scalps,  which  were  still  hot 
and  smoking.  There  were  the  few  simple  dishes, 
the  larder,  and  the  wardrobe  of  the  slain  family 
promiscuously  lying  about.  The  blankets  soaked 
with  blood,  where  the  startled  inmates  had  has 
tily  flung  them  aside  from  their  faces  on  the  en 
trance  of  their  visitors;  upon  which  later  they 
had  fallen  when  the  ebbing  life  blood  left  them 
so  weak  that  they  could  no  longer  stand.  There 
was  the  long-stemmed  pipe  of  the  head  of  the 
house  and  his  medicine  drum,  upon  which  he 
used  .to  accompany  himself  when  singing, 
tied  up  in  a  bag  hanging  from  one  of  the 
poles  of  the  lodge.  There  was  his  gun;  there 
was  the  half -made-up  pack  of  furs,  for  the  sake 
of  which  he  had  come  out  into  that  wilderness. 
There  was  the  half -finished  moccasin  that  his 
wife  had  been  making  the  evening  before,  with 


THE  OJIBWAY  241 

the  needle  still  sticking  in  it,  and  the  thread  of 
deer  sinew.  There  was  her  woman 's  ax,  and  her 
packing-strap  neatly  coiled  up— that  strap  with 
which  in  life  she  had  packed  many  a  heavy  load 
of  meat  that  her  lord  had  killed,  and  of  wood 
from  the  forest  to  keep  the  loved  ones  warm. 
There  was  the  deerskin  stretched  on  the  frame, 
half -tanned ;  that  on  which  she  was  expending  all 
her  skill  that  it  might  make  soft  and  pliable  moc 
casins  for  those  she  loved.  There  was  all  her 
little  daily  round  of  love  and  labor,  now  sud 
denly  broken  off,  never  to  be  taken  up  more. 
There  was  the  whole  simple  world  of  the  family, 
come  suddenly  to  an  end  amidst  overpowering 
terror  and  dismay.  Now  the  animating  princi 
ple  of  all  was  gone,  all  things  lay  mute  as  if  they 
never  could  be  moved  again,  any  more  than  the 
bleeding  trunks  that  seemed  to  sink  into  the 
ground. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  and  his  companions  now  rose 
from  their  work  and  looked  around.  They  noted 
all  the  simple  household  arrangements  of  the 
family,  of  which  so  lately  they  had  been  for  a 
time  members.  By  direction  of  their  leader  they 
proceeded  to  mutilate  the  bodies  in  the  way  the 
Sioux  would  have  done;  as  he  expressed  it  to 
them,  i  l  If  you  are  going  to  play  Sioux,  be  Sioux 
to  the  end."  This  mutilation  they  naturally  did 
not  like  to  perform,  but  they  knew  that  it  was 
necessary,  for  those  bodies  would  be  inspected 
and  the  absence  of  the  usual  marks  would  excite 
suspicion. 

'  '  This  is  a  pretty  pass  we  have  come  to, ' '  said 
T  raveling- the-Heavens,  as  he  was  engaged  in 


THE  OJIBWAY 

the  work.  "Who  would  have  thought  that  we 
would  have  come  to  such  work  as  this. ' ' 

"We  are  in  it  now,"  said  The-First-Heavens 
mournfully,  "and  we  must  carry  it  out  to  the 
end.  There  is  nothing  else  for  us  to  do." 

This  done,  and  the  bodies  left  lying  about  as 
they  would  naturally  have  fallen,  the  next  ques 
tion  was,  Where  were  they  to  spend  the  days 
that  must  necessarily  intervene  before  they  could 
go  home!  They  must  allow  time  to  go  to  the 
Sioux  country  and  return— that  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  divert  suspicion  from  them.  Sha- 
bosh-kusk  was  in  favor  of  temporarily  re 
moving  the  bodies  to  one  side,  to  be  replaced 
before  they  left,  and  going  to  housekeeping  right 
where  they  were.  Everything  was  there,  so  con 
venient,  ready  to  their  hand— the  wigwam  where 
they  would  be  dry  and  comfortable  amidst  the 
still  driving  rain;  all  the  cooking  utensils;  the 
food.  His  companions,  however,  again  over 
ruled  him  in  this ;  and  declared  that  they  would 
rather  put  up  with  any  inconvenience  in  a  tem 
porary  wigwam  of  their  own  construction,  than 
live  there. 

The  young  men  declared  they  could  not  swal 
low  their  food  where  that  bloody  deed  had  been 
done,  even  if  the  blood  were  temporarily  covered 
up.  They  said  they  could  not  use  the  dishes  and 
utensils  of  the  slain  family,  and  live  just  where 
they  had.  So  in  a  secluded  part  of  the  forest, 
out  of  sight  of  the  slain  family's  wigwam,  where 
they  would  not  be  discovered  even  if  any  persons 
came  into  that  vicinity,— though  it  was  very  un 
likely  that  any  one  would,— they  put  up  a  tern- 


THE  OJIBWAY  243 

porary  shelter  with  poles  and  brush,  and  there 
installed  themselves  to  wait  the  expiration  of  the 
necessary  time. 

Here  they  passed  several  days,  supplying 
themselves  with  food  from  the  stores  of  the  mur 
dered  family,  reinforced  with  fresh  meat  which 
they  killed  for  themselves.  Sha-bosh-kunk 
thought  it  was  a  pity  to  leave  there  the  fine  pack 
of  furs  that  0-kun-di-kun  had  accumulated,  so 
he  proposed  to  his  young  men  to  divide  them 
among  them  and  temporarily  secrete  them  some 
where  before  they  reached  their  village.  They, 
howver,  absolutely  refused  them— not  because 
they  did  not  value  the  furs,  but  because  they  did 
not  wish  to  take  anything  of  the  dead  man's; 
for,  as  they  said,  they  were  no  thieves.  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  therefore,  thinking  it  was  a  pity  that 
such  fine  furs  should  be  lost,  appropriated  them 
all  to  himself,  knowing  that  he  could  easily  hide 
them  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  sell  them  to  a 
trader. 

At  last  the  necessary  number  of  days  had 
passed— just  enough  time  to  go  to  the  Sioux 
country  and  no  more,  and  Sha-bosh-kunk  gave 
the  order  to  march.  Evening  brought  them  to 
Gull  Lake  village  where  they  encamped,  ready 
to  make  their  grand  triumphal  entry  the  next 
day. 

The  next  morning  the  entire  village  was  gath 
ered  together— men,  women  and  children—to 
welcome  the  returning  warriors.  Many  were  the 
congratulations  they  received  on  their  success; 
and  on  all  sides  surprise  was  expressed  that  they 
had  been  able  to  accomplish  it  in  the  very  limited 


244  THE  OJIBWAY 

time  they  had  taken  and  under  the  conditions 
of  most  unfavorable  weather.  It  was  conceded 
that  they  had  displayed  great  endurance  and 
perseverance  in  keeping  on  in  the  face  of  great 
natural  obstacles ;  and  that  was  exceeded  only  by 
their  bravery  in  going  right  into  their  enemies' 
villages  and  slaying  them  where  they  lived.  All 
was  crowned  by  their  good  fortune  in  coming 
back  without  the  loss  of  a  single  man. 

These  felicitations  were  expressed  while  they 
were  gathering  outside  the  village  and  before  the 
march  began.  At  last  it  started.  First  was  borne 
the  scalps  which  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  taken, 
carried  high  up  on  a  pole  with  the  long  black 
hair  streaming  down.  He  followed  behind,  ca 
pering  and  dancing,— a  lively  dancer,— once  in 
a  while  letting  out  whoops.  He,  as  the  getter-up 
and  planner  of  the  expedition,  was  the  principal 
figure.  Behind  came  his  men,  each  with  his  cap 
tured  scalp  borne  before  him,  and  each  with  the 
coveted  eagle 's  feather  in  his  hair.  But  the  peo 
ple  remarked  that  somehow  they  did  not  dance 
very  lively ;  that  they  let  out  no  whoops  of  tri 
umph,  and  that  for  scalp-takers  they  were  some 
how  tame  and  depressed.  Their  leader  was  live 
ly  and  frisky,  but  there  was  a  pall  over  them. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  received  the  felicitations  and 
praises  heaped  upon  him  with  a  beaming  coun 
tenance,  but  the  demeanor  of  the  others  was  sub 
dued.  Talking  about  it  afterwards  among  them 
selves  secretly,  one  of  them  said  to  the  other  that 
he  loathed  to  dance  after  that  scalp;  that 
instead  of  having  any  joy  in  it,  it  seemed 
to  him  that  the  Devil  was  behind  him 


THE  OJIBWAY  245 

mocking  him  as  he  forced  him  to  dance.  The 
other  said  that  he  felt  the  Devil  was  there  tri 
umphing  over  him ;  making  him  dance  at  his  own 
disgrace.  When  it  was  over  the  two  warriors 
slunk  off  to  their  own  wigwams,  secretly  mourn 
ing,  and  they  were  never  known  to  boast  in  any 
of  the  dances  of  the  Chippewas  about  their  ex 
ploits  in  that  expedition. 

After  the  festivities  of  the  day  the  village 
gradually  resumed  its  wonted  ways,  and  at  the 
end  of  some  months  the  scalps  were,  as  is  cus 
tomary,  buried.  By  and  by  the  news  came  that 
an  Ojibway  family  from  Leech  Lake  had  been 
massacred  by  Sioux  about  a  day's  march  from 
their  village,  and  in  the  direction  in  which  the 
war-party  had  gone.  A  piece  of  Sioux  bead- 
work  had  been  found  near  the  mangled  bodies, 
which  made  it  certain  that  it  had  been  done  by 
them.  •  It  was  noticed  as  a  coincidence  that  the 
scene  of  their  murder  had  been  in  the  same  di 
rection  in  which  Sha-bosh-kumVs  war-party  had 
gone.  They,  however,  when  questioned,  said 
they  had  not  seen  anything  of  the  family,  and 
must  have  passed  to  one  or  the  other  side  of 
them;  nor  had  they  come  across  any  traces  of 
the  war-party  of  Sioux  who  must  have  done  the 
killing.  It  was  noticed  that  the  two  young  men 
never  gave  any  particulars  of  just  how  they 
rushed  into  the  Sioux  encampment  and  killed 
those  people.  They  seemed  somehow  to  be  ret 
icent  on  the  subject  and  to  avoid  it.  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  was  voluble  on  the  subject,  but  while  he 
said  a  great  deal  the  hearers  could  not  gain  a 
very  clear  conception  of  just  what  had  hap 
pened. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

WHAT  CAME  OF  THE  LUCIFER  MATCH. 

Some  time  had  passed  after  the  events  nar 
rated  in  the  last  chapter,  some  French 
traders  had  taken  to  the  Indian  village  of  Leech 
Lake,  among  other  goods,  lucifer  matches,  which 
they  sold  at  about  fifty  cents  a  box,  and  from 
this  time  on  they  became  common  among  the  In 
dians.  They  excited  astonishment,  of  course, 
for  a  time,  and  at  first  were  used  to  experiment 
with  instead  of  for  economic  purposes.  But 
there  was  this  incidental  result— they  revealed 
the  scheme  of  Sha-bosh-kunk ;  how  he  had  tricked 
and  plundered  them.  They  now  mourned 
their  goods,  and  realized  that  the  common  roots 
and  cuttings  of  wood  for  which  they  had  in  many 
instances  given  him  their  all,  did  not  possess  any 
supernatural  virtue,  since  they  were  not  from  a 
god,  as  they  had  supposed,  who  took  fire  out  of 
his  body,  but  only  from  a  man,— a  very  ordinary 
man  at  that,— who  had  cut  or  dug  them  in  the 
woods  as  any  man  might. 

When  one  of  them  examined  the  new  wonder, 
and  drawing  it  across  his  blanket  breech-cloth 
behind  him  held  it  up  blazing  in  front  of  his  face, 
it  brought  to  his  mind  how  he  had  seen  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  do  the  same  thing,  and  then  it  recalled 
to  him  that  he  had  given  away  his  blankets,  his 
furs,  or  whatever  he  most  valued. 


THE  OJIBWAY  247 

There  was  therefore  loud  murmuring  and  dis 
content  over  this  thing,  and  the  victims  talked 
to  one  another  about  how  they  had  been  hum 
bugged  and  swindled.  Filled  with  indignation, 
they  discussed  also  whether  there  were  any  way 
of  getting  those  goods  back.  To  go  and  take 
them  by  force  would  involve  them  in  a  battle 
with  the  Gull  Lake  village,  their  own  people,  and 
that  they  could  not  do.  Nor  if  they  went  there 
forcibly  would  they  find  them,  for  they  had  by 
this  time  passed  to  many  different  owners.  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  had  traded  the  goods  to  many  dif 
ferent  persons,  for  substantial  value ;  and  those 
persons  now  stood  in  the  relation  of  innocent 
purchasers,  and  they  would  strenuously  resist 
the  forcible  taking  of  their  property  from  them. 
Some  of  the  goods  he  had  traded  off  in  the  vil 
lage  of  Mille  Lacs  and  to  get  them  from  the  own 
ers  there  was  obviously  still  more  impossible. 
After  having  canvassed  the  subject  in  every  light 
they  at  last  settled  down  to  the  conclusion  that 
their  goods  were  irrevocably,  gone,  and  that  they 
must  bear  the  loss  as  best  they  could. 

Nevertheless,  indignation  burned.  Indians 
bear  a  great  deal  from  their  fellow-Indians  in 
silence  and  with  patience— far  more  than  white 
men  do  from  their  fellows ;  for  they  have  learned 
by  the  enforced  close  association  through  so 
centuries  of  many  families  in  one  wigwam,  as 
often  happens,  to  bear  with  each  other 's  frailties 
and  to  keep  the  peace  under  nearly  all  circum 
stances.  They  have  learned  by  experience  that 
for  the  general  good  and  for  their  own  good  they 
must  bear  a  great  deal  in  silence.  Therefore 


218  THE  OJIBWAY 

they  will  say  nothing,  ordinarily,  when  stolen 
from  by  one  of  the  same  tribe,  preferring  to  put 
up  with  the  loss  rather  than  have  the  hard  feel 
ing  which  would  be  engendered  by  making  com 
plaint.  The  test  by  which  they  judge  any  per 
son,  or  one  of  themselves,  is  amiability,  and  this 
amiability  is  shown  by  passing  over  even  very 
deep  injuries  in  silence.  They  realize  that  there 
is  magnanimity  in  this,  and  elevation  of  charac 
ter,  and  that  it  makes  for  the  general  welfare. 
They  can  rise  above  a  little  loss  of  property, 
bear  it,  and  treat  the  offender  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  If  they  say  anything  about  it,  it  is  to 
a  few  friends  secretly,  but  brawling,  or  what  we 
would  call  making  a  fuss,  or  showing  testiness  or 
ill-humor,  they  consider  beneath  them.  They 
realize  that  they  approach  nearer  to  the  stand 
ard  of  the  gods  by  this  course  of  conduct.  There 
fore,  beyond  a  quiet  assertion  that  "Sha-bosh- 
kunk  had  tricked  them,"  they  prepared  to  accept 
the  loss  in  silence. 

There  was  one  of  them,  however— Kichi-No- 
din,  or  Big  Wind,  who  was  of  a  more  outspoken 
disposition.  He  was  a  bluff,  manly  hunter,  and 
generally  prided  himself  on  saying  just  what  he 
thought  without  fear  of  anybody.  Therefore 
when  an  Ojibway  from  Gull  Lake  arrived  at  the 
village  on  a  visit,  as  often  happened,  and  in 
course  of  time  found  his  way  to  his  wigwam, 
the  subject  uppermost  in  his  mind  came  out. 
"Is  that  miserable  old  Sha-bosh-kunk  still  in 
your  village, "  he  inquired  of  his  visitor.  Being 
assured  that  he  was,  he  resumed :  1 1  Well,  he  had 
better  not  come  visiting  here,  for  if  he  does  I 


THE  OJIBWAY  249 

shall  take  my  breech-cloth  and  nil)  it  all  over  his 
nose  and  face;  yes,  I  shall  rub  it  hard  into  the 
old  scoundrel,  and  at  the  same  time  I  shall  kick 
him  hard  at  the  other  end  of  him.  I  think  I  shall 
kick  him  out  of  this  village  and  back  to  Gull 
Lake.  The  idea  of  his  coming  here  with  his  luci- 
fer  match  and  getting  their  property  away  from 
honest  people;  yes,  from  poor  widows,  who  were 
almost  starving !  Well,  I  guess  I  had  better  not 
talk  about  it  any  more,  for  if  I  do  I  shall  make 
myself  so  angry  at  the  old  scoundrel  that  I  will 
not  be  able  to  restrain  myself,  but  will  take  my 
gun  and  go  and  visit  him  in  his  wigwam,  and 
then  there  will  be  bad  doings." 

Here  he  calmed  his  rising  wrath  for  a  time; 
then  another  train  of  reflection  struck  him:  "I 
hear  he  went  on  a  war-party  lately  and  brought 
home  scalps.  Now,  I  have  such  a  mean  opinion 
of  him  and  think  him  such  a  coward  and  liar, 
that  I  do  not  think  he  ever  saw  the  Sioux.  I  do 
not  think  he  had  courage  enough  to  go  and  see 
them ;  but  as  like  as  not  it  was  he  murdered  our 
townsman,  0-kun-di-kun  and  his  family,  who 
were  out  in  that  direction,  and  brought  home 
their  scalps  for  Sioux.  It  would  be  just  like  him 
to  do  so."  This  meditation,  for  it  was  spoken 
mostly  to  himself,  was  a  random  shot  of  his, 
something  he  just  happened  to  say,  he  hardly 
knew  why,  for  he  had  no  facts  to  base  it  on.  He 
was  cleaning  his  gun,  having  just  returned  from 
a  hunt,  while  he  was  thus  easing  his  mind  to 
his  visitor,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  his  speech 
was  giving  forth  his  lucubrations  to  himself,  and, 
allowing  his  imagination  and  his  tongue  to  run, 


250  THE  OJIBWAY 

almost  oblivious  of  the  presence  of  his  visitor. 
He  could  not  have  told  himself  why  he  made  that 
remark  about  the  killing  of  0-kun-di-kun.  It 
certainly  had  never  come  into  his  mind  before. 

When  this  speech  of  Big  Wind  was  reported 
to  Sha-bosh-kunk  as  in  due  time  it  was,  it  threw 
him  into  quite  a  state  of  perturbation— a  com 
motion  of  mingled  feelings  was  excited  in  his 
breast.  There  was  anger  for  the  insult  threat 
ened  to  be  inflicted  on  him ;  injury  to  his  dignity, 
in  that  he  could  not  go  as  a  great  man  to  visit  at 
Leech  Lake,  as  he  had  formerly  done ;  injury  to 
his  dignity  at  home,  in  that  he  was  publicly 
charged  with  unlawful  methods  in  the  acquisi 
tion  of  what  he  had  got ;  and  a  fear  of  ridicule, 
the  weapon  which  of  all  others  he  most  dreaded. 
And  there  was  the  exposure  of  the  deception 
which  he  had  practiced  at  Leech  Lake.  Above 
all  there  was  fear,  excited  by  the  random  shot  of 
Big  Wind  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  mur 
dered  Ojibways  had  met  their  death.  This  last 
remark  set  his  mind  on  fire,  and  although  he  pre 
served  a  calm  exterior  as  he  heard  it  he  felt  a 
wave  of  something  like  fire  coursing  for  a  mo 
ment  along  every  vein  of  his  body.  Was  his  se 
cret  then  disclosed?  Was  he  standing  on  a  vol 
cano  which  might  open  and  engulf  him  at  any 
moment?  Was  his  deed  known ?  And  would  he 
in  a  moment  be  dragged  from  his  position  of 
chief,  and  of  one  of  the  men  most  of  all  looked 
up  to,  to  be  an  object  of  derision  and  execra 
tion  ?  Yes,  not  only  fame  and  dignity,  but  even 
his  very  life,  he  saw  trembling  in  the  balance; 
for  could  he  hope  to  live  if  it  were  known  that 


THE  OJIBWAY  251 

he  was  the  murderer  of  that  family.  No  wonder 
then  that  something  like  molten  lead  coursed 
through  his  veins  as  he  listened,  succeeded  the 
next  moment  by  a  chill  as  of  death. 

While  bearing  up  outwardly  calm,  he  was  in 
wardly  moved  to  the  very  centre  of  his  being. 
He  saw  that  something  must  be  done  if  he  was  to 
live— not  merely  to  enjoy  dignity,  but  if  he  was 
to  live  that  mouth  must  be  stopped ;  that  tongue 
that  verged  on  these  dangerous  disclosures  must 
be  silenced ;  that  one  who,  though  inadvertently, 
had  so  nearly  revealed  his  dangerous  secret 
must  be  put  out  of  the  way ;  that  hand  that  had 
been  laid  almost  upon  his  very  life,  must  be  cut 
off.  It  was  an  absolute  necessity,  if  he  were  to 
live  at  all,  that  the  other  must  be  removed. 
How  to  do  it  was  the  question.  To  go  to  the  vil 
lage  himself  and  kill  him  was  impossible.  To 
hire  any  one  else  to  do  it  was  still  more  impos 
sible.  If  he  attempted  it  the  man  would  refuse, 
and  would  tell  of  the  proposition  that  had  been 
made  to  him,  and  things  would  be  worse  than 
before.  His  wishing  to  kill  Big  Wind  would  be 
connected  with  what  Big  Wind  had  said,  and 
people  would  be  led  on  the  trail  of  what  he  most 
wished  to  hide. 

While  he  was  walking  away  from  the  visitor 
to  Leech  Lake,  outwardly  unconcerned,  but  in 
wardly  stirred  to  the  depths  with  many  mingled 
feelings,— of  which  fear  was  the  predominating 
one, — he  was  casting  about  in  his  mind  what  he 
could  do  to  avert  this  most  terrible  threatened 
danger.  Since  he  could  not  go  and  kill,  nor  hire 
and  kill,  his  mind  reverted  to  secret  methods  that 


252  THE  OJIBWAY 

might  be  used.  His  people  had  always  believed 
they  could  kill  a  person,  even  though  far  distant, 
by  charms  and  spells,  by  secretly  practicing 
against  the  life.  That  would  be  his  weapon! 
Had  he  not  all  the  lore  of  his  ancestors?  Had 
he  not  been  instructed  in  the  use  of  their  secret 
medicines?  He  would  put  all  in  operation,  and 
his  enemy,  who  had  dared  to  speak  such  things 
against  him,  would  waste  away  and  die !  This 
very  day  he  would  begin  it ! 

He  therefore  proceeded  to  carve  in  wood  a 
rude  image  of  a  human  being.  He  sang  his  most 
powerful  medicine  songs  while  doing  it— songs 
of  most  baleful  import.  After  cutting  and  whit 
tling  a  certain  length  of  time,  he  would  lay  it 
down  before  him,  and  taking  up  his  medicine 
drum,  sing  over  it  the  chants  that  would  blast 
and  kill.  The  Indians  who  were  about  under 
stood  that  he  was  .practicing  on  the  life  of  some 
one,  but  whether  near  or  far  off,  or  who  it  was 
they  could  not  tell.  Then  he  would  lay  down 
the  drum,  take  up  the  image  and  add  some  other 
touch.  He  clothed  it  with  moccasins,  hunting 
shirt,  leggings,  and  put  a  bow  in  its  hand.  It 
was  evidently  the  image  of  a  hunter.  He  got 
human  hair  from  somewhere  and  pasted  it  on 
the  head.  The  features  were  visible --the  eyes, 
the  nose;  it  had  arms  and  legs.  All  this  was 
accompanied  by  endless  chants  of  powerful 
efficacy,  and  beating  on  his  drum  and  shaking  of 
his  rattle,  and  occupied  many  days.  He  evi 
dently  put  his  whole  soul  into  the  work  of  blast 
ing  that  man,  whoever  he  was.  As  soon  as  he 
awoke  in  the  morning  he  began  singing  at  it  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  253 

chanting  and  drumming  over  it.  This,  with 
many  handlings,  fixings,  and  turnings  of  it  he 
kept  up  all  day,  and  late  in  the  night  he  could 
still  be  heard  laboring  at  the  image.  He  made 
many  passes  over  it  with  his  hands,  and  breath 
ings  upon  it  with  his  mouth,  accompanied  by  all 
sorts  of  curious  and  uncanny  sounds  from  his 
throat.  He  had  in  a  pot  medicines  of  most  dead 
ly  efficacy,  and  these  from  time  to  time  he  ap 
plied  with  a  stick  to  different  parts  of  the  image, 
when  it  was  expected  the  efficacy  of  the  same 
poison  would  sink  into  the  person  represented, 
wherever  he  might  be.  This  poison,  presented 
on  the  point  of  a  stick  held  in  his  hand,  hovered 
a  long  time  about  the  body  of  the  image  before 
it  touched  it;  was  then  suddenly  withdrawn, 
then  again  approached  to  the  victim,  till  finally, 
after  many  a  feint  and  unsuccessful  attempt,  the 
poison  at  last,  with  the  triumphal  burst  of  a 
chant,  touched  the  image.  Great  was  the  exul 
tation  of  Sha-bosh-kunk  when  he  had  thus,  after 
many  abortive  attempts,  made  a  junction  of  the 
medicine  to  the  person.  He  sang  in  triumph; 
he  leaped;  he  danced  about  with  joy.  He  ex 
pressed  himself  openly  to  the  members  of  his 
family  that  no  human  frame  was  strong  enough 
to  resist  the  deadly  virus  which  he  had  applied. 
He  told  them  that  he  looked  on  that  man  as  soon 
to  be  a  dead  man.  He  would  certainly  fall  sick, 
fade  and  die,  under  the  influence  of  that  myster 
ious  medicine. 

Then  he  bethought  him  of  something  else. 
With  many  whe-ho-ho-ho-ho's,  and  with  a  great 
deal  of  time  occupied  in  the  doing  of  it,  he  grad- 


254  THE  OJIBWAY 

ually  painted  all  round  the  mouth  of  the  image 
with  a  white  paint  of  his  own  manufacture. 
This  white-painted  mouth  signified  that  the  per 
son  represented  was  starving  to  death.  On  ac 
count  of  that  white  paint  round  the  mouth  the 
animals  would  all  flee  from  him— he  could  not 
get  within  range  of  them,  and,  if  he  did  happen 
to  and  fire,  his  gun  would  miss  its  aim.  That 
figure  with  the  white-painted  mouth  was  a 
hunter  dying  from  starvation. 

While  this  practicing  on  the  image  was  going 
on  and  it  lasted  many  weeks,  Sha-bosh-kunk  was 
very  careful  to  inquire  from  occasional  visitors 
from  Leech  Lake  how  Big  Wind  was;  if  his 
health  was  good,  and  if  he  was  thriving  in  body. 
He  inquired  also  very  particularly  about  what 
success  he  had  in  hunting,  and  whether  the  ani 
mals  waited  his  approach,  and  whether  he  had 
any  meat  in  his  wigwam  or  was  in  a  starving 
condition.  From  the  answers  given  him  he  ex 
tracted  the  comfort  that  his  medicines  were  hav 
ing  some  effect,  and  he  looked  forward  to  final 
success.  He  now  thought  of  a  new  affliction  he 
could  bring  to  bear  upon  his  enemy.  Holding 
the  image  before  him  in  one  hand,after  much 
drumming  and  chanting,  and  shaking  his  rattle 
over  it,  and  making  many  passes,  he  advanced  a 
needle  towards  its  joints  with  the  other;  and 
after  many  false  starts,  and  approaching  the 
needle  very  close  and  again  withdrawing  it,  he 
succeeded  in  pricking  the  joints  with  it.  With 
great  exultation  he  went  over  one  joint  after 
another,  pricking  into  each,  until  it  was  a  very 
severely  tortured  image.  He  explained  that  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  255 

person  represented  would  by  this,  be  visited  by 
similar  darting  pains  in  the  joints.  Of  those 
coming  from  Leech  Lake  he  inquired  if  Big 
Wind  had  not  lately  suffered  from  excruciating 
pains  in  the  joints,  and  when  told  that  he  had  for 
some  days  been  lying  in  his  wigwam  suffering 
severely  from  rheumatism  contracted  from 
sleeping  out  in  a  cold  rain-storm  while  out  hunt 
ing,  he  saw  at  once  that  those  darting  pains  were 
the  pricks  of  his  needle,  and  he  felt  confident 
that  when  he  would  advance  that  needle  to  the 
heart  a  fatal  result  would  ensue.  So  the  weeks 
wore  on  while  he  was  slowly  putting  his  victim 
to  death,  until  fortune  presented  him  with  a 
more  sure  means  of  finishing  it  up. 

In  a  wigwam  adjoining,  in  the  Gull  Lake  vil 
lage  lived  a  hunter,  Kichi  Osaiye  (Big-Elder- 
Brother),  his  wife  and  children.  His  wife  was, 
strange  to  say,  of  the  same  name  as  himself, 
Kichi  Osaiye  (Big-Elder-Brother),  and  it  was 
the  curious  circumstance  of  both  having  the 
same  name  which  first  attracted  them  to  each 
other.  Finally  they  thought  it  would  be  a  good 
joke  for  two  Big-Elder-Brothers  to  marry,  and 
marry  they  did.  One  of  their  children,  a  boy, 
took  a  severe  cold  on  account  of  some  exposure, 
which  later  changed  into  a  slow  decline.  The 
hearts  of  the  parents  were  sorely  grieved  seeing 
the  failing  condition  of  their  child,  and  they  had 
many  anxious  conferences  on  the  subject.  The 
neighbors  also  came  in  to  sympathize  and  give 
advice.  They  volunteered  many  different  ex 
planations  of  his  illness.  One  said  "o-tuqu- 
umigon  awia"  ("he  js  bitten  (or  gnawed)  by 


256  THE  OJIBWAY 

somebody"),  which  is  their  way  of  saying  "he 
has  consumption. ' '  Therefore  when  the  neigh 
bors  suggested,  "perhaps  he  is  bitten  by  some 
body,7'  there  was  a  consultation  over  that;  but 
it  was  finally  decided  that  that  was  not  the  cause, 
because  he  did  not  cough  and  he  did  not  raise 
anything. 

They  then  suggested  another  cause— that 
somebody  was  making  bad  medicine  at  him. 
This  is  considered  one  of  the  commonest  of  all 
causes  of  sickness  by  the  Indians,  and  it  is  the 
one  that  involuntarily  first  suggests  itself  to 
their  minds.  The  person  making  this  bad  medi 
cine  may  reside  in  the  same  village,  or  in  any 
distant  village,  distance  having  no  effect  in 
weakening  the  power  of  the  medicine.  Any  medi 
cine-man,  in  a  distant  village  even,  can  make  a 
figure  of  the  person  to  be  operated  on— a  sort  of 
a  rag-doll  baby ;  can  practice  spells  upon  it ;  ap 
ply  bad  medicine  to  it;  drum  and  sing  chants 
over  it ;  and  the  person  operated  on  will  become 
sick  and  pine  away.  Especially  if  the  medicine 
man  gets  any  article  of  clothing  belonging  to  the 
person  whom  it  is  desired  to  kill,  but  particu 
larly  a  hair  of  his  head,  he  can  by  practicing 
upon  the  article  of  clothing,  or  upon  the  hair, 
practice  upon  the  whole  body.  In  such  a  case  it 
is  sure  death.  Hence  no  Indian  of  any  sense 

*It  is  remarkable,  in  explanation  of  the  above  name  for  con 
sumption,  that  they  have  always  known  that  It  is  caused  by  the 
gnawing  of  a  microbe,  hence  they  have  called  the  disease,  "being 
bitten  by  somebody."  White  people  always  laughed  at  the  Indians 
for  their  ridiculous  belief  that  it  is  caused  by  the  gnawing  of  a 
living  organism,  but  now  Dr.  Koch  proves  that  the  Indians,  who 
were  considered  so  ignorant,  always  knew  that  valuable  scientific 
truth  of  which  the  learned  whites  till  within  a  very  recent  period 
were  ignorant. 


THE  OJIBWAY  257 

will  on  any  consideration  let  any  other  person 
have  a  single  hair  of  his  head ;  for  that  can  be 
practiced  upon  by  any  evil-minded  medicine 
man  to  his  death. 

When,  therefore,  the  neighbors  suggested  that 
some  one  was  making  bad  medicine  against  the 
child,  it  met  with  acceptance  by  all  as  the  true 
solution ;  for  the  child  had  no  positive  sickness, 
but  was  just  pining  away.  That  theory,  and 
that  only,  fitted  all  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  so 
must  be  true. 

That  much  being  settled,  the  next  question 
was,  what  was  to  be  done?  This  was  easily 
answered — employ  a  medicine-man  to  counter 
act  the  effects  of  this  bad  medicine,  and  if  pos 
sible  find  out  who  it  was  that  was  making  it,  and 
stop  him.  Sha-bosh-kunk  was  in  good  repute 
as  a  skillful  medicine-man,  and  he  was  called  in. 

After  the  usual  preliminary  talks  with  Big- 
Elder-Brother,  and  after  his  having  been  paid 
the  usual  fee  to  begin  with,  and  offerings  of  food 
and  other  things,  he  came  in.  He  took  a  long 
survey  of  the  boy.  "This  will  be  a  pretty  hard 
case  to  cure,"  he  said ;  "but  my  medicine  is  pow 
erful."  He  was  therefore  installed  as  doctor, 
and  with  drum,  rattles,  chanting,  and  all  the 
usual  means  employed  by  men  of  his  profession, 
he  began  his  three  days'  work.  He  kept  up  the 
usual  lively  pulling  and  hauling  of  the  sick  child, 
sucking  to  remove  the  injurious  substances  from 
the  body,  and  other  things. 
"Big-Elder-Brother,  inspired  with  fresh  hope 
now  that  active  efforts  were  being  made  to  re 
store  his  child,  was  out  on  the  prairies  hunting 


258  THE  OJIBWAY 

every  day,  being  anxious  that  the  medicine-man, 
who  was  doing  so  much  to  restore  his  boy, 
should  have  a  plentiful  supply  of  meat,  both  for 
his  own  use  and  to  carry  home.  When  he  re 
turned  home  each  evening  he  anxiously  inquired 
of  his  wife  what  progress  was  being  made. 

1 1  Sha-bosh-kunk  says, ' '  she  answered  in  a  low, 
confidential  voice,  "that  he  has  positively  found 
out  that  there  is  some  one  making  medicine 
against  the  boy.  He  has  found  out  that  he  is 
opposed  by  a  medicine-man  somewhere,  and  he 
hopes  to  overcome  him.  But  that  this  sickness 
is  caused  to  our  child  by  some  one  is  now  cer 
tain.  Sha-bosh-kunk  says  so ;  he  says  he  strikes 
against  that  medicine-man  and  his  powers;  he 
feels  him  at  work,  and  he  says  the  boy  will  not 
get  well  till  that  man  is  stopped  or  gives  it  up. 
As  long  as  he  keeps  working  on  the  boy  he  will 
droop.  We  all  knew  as  much  as  that  before," 
she  said,  raising  her  voice,  "even  before  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  came.  The  neighbors  all  said  so,  and 
it  is  plain ;  for  the  boy  has  no  positive  sickness, 
but  just  pines  away,  and  that  is  plainly  caused 
by  medicine. ' ' 

"I  wish  I  knew  who  that  man  is  who  is  killing 
my  boy, ' '  said  Big-Elder-Brother.  ' '  Here  I  am 
living  a  quiet,  peaceable  life,  trying  to  support 
my  little  family  and  doing  no  harm  to  anybody ; 
and  now,  when  I  am  enjoying  peace  and  quiet, 
here  comes  in  this  devil  of  a  medicine-man,  who 
ever  he  is,  and  kills  my  boy.  Does  not  kill  him 
with  one  stroke;  but,  like  the  devil  he  is,  keeps 
working  at  him  day  by  day.  Very  likely  he  has 
made  a  "muzinini"  (an  image)  of  him,  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  259 

every  day  puts  a  little  of  the  medicine  on  that ; 
not  enough  to  kill  him  yet,  but  just  enough  to 
make  him  sick  every  day. 

"That  is  the  very  thing  Sha-bosh-kunk  has 
told  me,"  said  his  wife,  in  a  low,  hushed  tone, 
and  looking  around  in  a  sort  of  alarm  lest  some 
one  should  hear  her.  ' '  He  has  told  me  that  he 
has  seen  in  a  vision  that,  that  man  has  a  "muzin- 
ini ' '  of  our  boy ;  and  he  asked  me  if  any  one  had 
got  a  hair  of  his  head.  And  he  told  me  that  if 
the  man  had  a  hair  of  the  boy  that  he  would 
practice  on  that  hair ;  put  it  in  the  muzinini,  and 
then  it  would  be  just  the  same  as  if  he  had  the 
boy's  body  before  him  to  practice  on.  I  thought 
it  all  over,  and  I  told  him  that  I  couldn  't  remem 
ber  that  any  one  had  ever  got  a  hair  of  our  chil 
dren,  for  that  I  have  always  been  very  careful 
in  that  respect. " 

i '  Where  does  he  think  this  man  lives ! ' '  asked 
Big-Elder-Brother. 

"He  doesn't  know  just  yet,"  she  answered; 
but  he  told  me  he  thought  it  was  at  Leech  Lake, 
but  he  was  not  sure.  He  says  he  will  try  and 
find  out  where  he  lives,  and  who  he  is.  It  isn't 
anyone  in  our  village,  anyway,"  she  added;  "he 
told  me  he  had  found  that  out." 

"Well,"  said  her  husband,  "get  him  to  find 
out  if  he  can  who  this  devil  is  and  where  he  lives. 
It  seems  to  me,"  he  added,  with  rising  wrath, 
"that  I  would  travel  to  the  end  of  the  earth  to 
see  him  and  to  save  my  boy.  I  have  always 
been  a  good-living  man ;  I  have  never  done  any 
harm  to  him,  nor  to  any  human  being ;  and  that 


260  THE  OJIBWAY 

he  should  attack  me  and  my  family  this  way,  is 
hard  to  bear." 

The  next  day  Big-Elder-Brother  went  hunt 
ing  as  usual,  while  Sha-bosh-kunk  continued  his 
treatment.  When  he  returned  at  night  with  a 
deer  he  again  drew  his  wife  aside,  and  asked  her 
what  else  she  had  found  out. 

"The  boy  is  not  any  better, "  she  answered, 
1 1  and  how  can  he  be  better  as  long  as  that  man 
keeps  practicing  against  him.  And  that  is  what 
Sha-bosh-kunk  says,  too.  He  told  me,  'It  is  not 
possible  for  that  boy  to  get  any  better  unless 
that  man  leaves  him  alone. '  Those  are  the  very 
words  he  said*  to  me,  and  anybody  knows  that, 
common  sense  will  teach  anybody  that.  How 
could  you  be  well  if  some  person  was  always 
working  at  you,  and  teasing  you,  and  plucking 
at  you,  and  doing  bad  things  to  you,  and  would 
never  let  you  alone  a  single  day.  It  would  kill 
anybody,  no  matter  who.  So  the  end  is  plain 
that  we  shall  lose  our  boy  unless  that  man  drops 
this  thing  and  lets  him  alone. " 

"And  where  is  the  man,"  asked  Big-Elder- 
Brother,  ' i  and  who  is  he ! " 

' '  He  told  me  that  he  has  found  out  for  certain 
that  he  lives  in  Leech  Lake,"  answered  his  wife, 
' '  and  he  knows  his  name,  too ;  but  he  told  me  he 
disliked  very  much  to  tell  his  name,  lest  you 
should  think  hard  of  him,  or  get  into  any  quar 
rel  with  him.  He  says  he  wants  to  see  peace  and 
wants  no  trouble  of  any  kind ;  that  if  he  told  you 
his  name  the  man  would  blame  him,  and  more 
than  that  the  man  and  you  might  have  trouble, 
and  that  he  wishes  to  prevent." 


THE  OJIBWAY  261 

"I  want  to  see  Sha-bosh-kunk  myself  about 
this  business,"  said  Big-Elder-Brother,  " since 
you  cannot  or  will  not  tell  me  any  more,"  And 
with  that  he  went  directly  to  him.  "My  wife 
here  tell  me, ' '  he  said,  '  *  that  you  have  found  out 
the  man  who  is  injuring  our  son  there,  and 
where  he  lives.  For  some  time  we  have  sus 
pected  that  that  was  the  cause  of  his  sickness, 
and  now  it  seems  our  suspicions  were  correct. 
Now  I  want  you  to  tell  me  who  that  man  is.  My 
wife  here  tells  me  that  he  lives  at  Leech  Lake. 
I  have  a  right  to  know  who  it  is  that  is  killing 
my  child." 

"Well,"  answered  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "I  dislike 
to  make  hard  feelings  between  people,  and  I 
would  rather  not  tell  who  he  is.  I  am  for  peace ; 
peace  is  best." 

"But  I  have  a  right  to  know,"  returned  Big- 
Elder-Brother.  "I  ought  not  to  sit  still  here 
while  that  man  goes  on  killing  my  child.  I 
ought  to  stop  him.  Now  I  demand  to  know  who 
he  is." 

"Since,  then,"  said  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "you  in 
sist  on  knowing,  I  suppose  I  must  tell  you.  I 
dislike  to  do  it  very  much,  but  you  compel  me. 
But  although  I  know  who  it  is  I  want  to  wait  one 
day  more.  I  want  to  make  perfectly  sure,  be 
yond  all  doubt,  before  I  tell  you.  To-morrow  I 
shall  set  up  my  che-suk-an  (instrument  of  divin 
ation)  and  go  into  it,  and  find  out  by  that  inde 
pendent  source  who  it  is.  Then  if  I  am  in 
formed  there  by  the  *  spirit  of  divination,  Mitchi- 
kans  (The  King  of  the  Turtles)  the  same  thing 
that  I  have  learned  here  from  the  other  source, 


262  THE  OJIBWAY 

then  there  is  no  doubt  about  it  and  it  is  sure 
truth.  So  wait  till  to-morrow,  and  after  I  have 
come  out  of  the  che-suk-an  I  shall  tell  you.  I 
never  do  anything  rashly.  It  is  best  to  make 
sure  of  the  ground  as  one  goes. ' ' 

On  the  morrow,  true  to  his  promise,  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  set  up  his  instrument  of  divination,  got 
into  it,  practiced  the  usual  incantations,  had 
communication  with  the  King  of  the  Turtles,  the 
deity  presiding  over  that  particular  branch  of 
his  art,  and  was  then  ready  for  his  interrogator. 

"Who  is  it,"  anxiously  inquired  Big-Elder- 
Brother,  when  he  visited  him  on  returning  from 
his  day's  hunting. 

"I  will  tell  you,"  said  Sha-bosh-kunk,  "al 
though  I  greatly  dislike  to  do  so.  And  I  wish 
you  to  bear  patiently  what  I  am  going  to  tell 
you,  and  to  do  nothing  rash.  By  the  power  of 
my  medicine  I  forced  the  man  who  is  doing  that 
to  your  son  to  come  in  to  me  into  the  che-suk-an, 
although  he  struggled  hard  not  to  come ;  and  he 
confessed  to  me  that  it  is  he  who  is  making  med 
icine  against  your  son,  and  that  to  make  the 
medicine  more  sure  he  had  put  it  into  a  gun  and 
fired  it  at  him.  Here  he  stopped. 

"What  is  his  name!"  demanded  Big-Elder- 
Brother. 

"His  name  is  Big  Wind,  of  Leech  Lake." 

Soon  after  this  Big-Elder-Brother  was  pre 
paring  his  moccasins,  and  taking  an  extra  pair, 
and  putting  some  wild  rice  into  a  food-bag, 
which  he  slung  across  his  shoulders,  and  making 
other  preparations  which  showed  that  he  was 
going  on  a  journey.  Then  he  took  his  trusty 


THE  OJIBWAY  263 

gun,  filled  his  powder  horn,  took  some  bullets, 
and  put  his  large  hunter's  knife  in  his  belt.  His 
wife  divined  where  he  was  going,  and  she  hardly 
knew  whether  to  forbid  him  or  not.  She  dis 
liked  to  see  him  go,  fearing  that  something 
might  happen;  and  yet  she  was  unwilling  to 
have  things  go  on  just  as  they  were,  feeling  that 
if  something  was  not  done  she  would  lose  her 
child.  Love  for  her  husband  and  love  for  her 
child  contended  within  her. 

"Where  are  you  going!"  she  asked,  although 
she  knew. 

"To  Leech  Lake,"  he  answered  decisively. 

"You  are  not  going  to  do  anything  to  that 
man!"  she  asked  in  a  tone  of  alarm.  "I  hope 
you  will  not,  for  if  you  do  you  know  that  very 
likely  some  of  his  friends  will  kill  you. ' ' 

"And  what  would  you  have  me  do  ! "  he  asked, 
in  a  snappish  tone.  "Sit  still  here  like  a  cow 
ard  till  that  man  kills  my  child!" 

"No,"  she  said,  I  do  not  wish  this  thing  to 
continue  as  it  is  any  more  than  you  do,  I  love  my 
child  just  as  much  as  you  do.  But  if  there  was 
some  way  that  you  could  go  and  speak  quietly  to 
the  man  and  tell  him  to  leave  off  making  that 
medicine,  that  is  what  I  would  like.  But  you 
are  so  hot-tempered,  and  so  violent  when  you  do 
get  worked  up,  that  I  am  afraid  something  will 
happen.  If  you  would  promise  to  me  that  you 
would  speak  peaceably  to  him,  as  I  have  said, 
and  do  nothing  more,  then  I  would  be  willing  to 
let  you  go." 

"I  do  not  know  myself  what  I  am  going  to  do 
or  what  I  am  going  to  say  when  I  get  there,"  he 


264  THE  OJIBWAY 

answered.  ' 1 1  only  feel  that  I  must  go ;  that  I 
cannot  stay  here  and  see  our  child  die.  And 
what  will  happen  when  I  get  there  I  am  sure  I 
do  not  know.  But  go  I  must,  and  then  I  sup 
pose  what  must  happen  will  happen,  and  I  have 
no  idea  what  it  will  be." 

"Then,"  said  she,  "I  suppose  if  you  must  go 
you  must,  only  I  wish  you  merely  to  speak  to 
that  man  and  tell  him  to  leave  that  off,  to  stop 
it— but  not  to  do  anything  to  him." 

Leaving  matters  in  this  unsatisfactory  and 
undecided  state,  she  was  fain  to  see  him  continue 
his  preparations  for  departure. 

Soon  Big-Elder-Brother  had  his  food-bag 
slung  across  his  shoulder,  also  his  powder  horn ; 
and  taking  his  gun  in  his  hand  he  was  ready  to 
start.  A  moment  he  stood  looking  out  of  the 
open  door  of  the  wigwam  as  if  just  about  to  step 
out;  then  with  a  sudden  impulse  turned  back, 
and  going  to  the  place  where  his  sick  son  was 
lying  on  the  mat,  tenderly  bent  over  him.  t  i  Oh 
my  son,  my  son,"  he  cried,  and  propping  him 
self  with  one  hand  leaning  on  his  gun,  bent  over 
him  and  tenderly  kissed  him.  "Good-by,  my 
son,"  he  said,  "good-by,"  and  again  he  tenderly 
kissed  him.  Then  after  a  lingering  pause  he 
tore  himself  away  with  a  start,  as  if  some  mys 
terious  feeling  was  holding  him  there  and  he 
had  to  exert  violence  upon  himself  to  get  himself 
away.  He  got  outside  the  door  with  a  jump, 
then  he  remembered  something  that  made  him 
look  back  once  more.  It  was  to  bid  good-by  to 
his  wife,  whose  anxious  figure  loomed  up  in  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  265 

gloom  just  inside  the  lodge,  looking  intently 
after  him. 

"Take  good  care  of  our  son  while  I  am 
away,"  he  said  to  her.  It  was  his  way  of  bid 
ding  her  farewell.  Then  he  turned  his  back  on 
his  home,  on  all  that  earth  held  that  was  dear  to 
him,  and  setting  his  face  toward  the  dark  woods 
walked  rapidly  away. 

"And  do  you  mind  what  I  say,"  called  his 
wife,  pursuing  with  her  rising  voice  the  retreat 
ing  figure,  and  advancing  a  step  out  of  the  door ; 
"and  do  not  do  anything  to  that  man— just 
quietly  speak  to  him,  and  nothing  more. ' ' 

He  did  not  again  look  back,  and  seemed  not  to 
have  heard  her.  And  she  stood  there  watching 
him  until  the  woods  enveloped  him  from  her 
sight.  For  some  time  after  he  disappeared  she 
still  stood,  looking  the  way  he  had  gone;  then 
slowly  turned  and  entered  the  wigwam  and  took 
her  position  beside  her  son. 

Her  duty  was  there,  but  her  heart  was  with 
the  figure  that  had  entered  into  the  dark  woods. 
She  knew  not  what  might  befall  him.  She  was 
aware  that  he  was  going  on  a  dangerous  errand ; 
an  errand  on  which  she  could  not  go  with  him, 
nor  afford  him  any  assistance.  As  she  stood 
there  silent  for  a  moment,  the  road  to  Leech 
Lake  slowly  unfolded  itself  before  her  mental 
vision,  and  she  recognized  every  bend  of  it 
every  hill  and  swale,  as  she  had  often  seen  them ; 
and  every  lake  that  the  trail  ran  along,  till  the 
wigwams  of  Leech  Lake  village  rose  before  her. 
And  there  she  saw  a  figure  enter  it— the  figure 
of  a  hunter  with  his  gun,  the  figure  that  she  had 


266  THE  OJIBWAY 

just  watched  entering  the  woods.  She  saw  no 
more;  the  vision  ceased;  and  the  well-known 
figure  that  she  had  seen  enter  was  lost  there. 
She  waited  a  moment;  there  was  silence,  but  no 
vision— a  veil  had  fallen  upon  the  rest.  A  faint 
cry  of  her  child  asking  for  a  drink  of  water  re 
called  her  from  her  reverie  to  the  world  she  had 
left,  and  as  she  turned  around,  a  bitter  pang  shot 
through  her  heart,  that  she  had  seen  the  last  of 
the  husband  of  her  youth.  Her  lips  were  work 
ing  with  a  convulsive  cry,  and  a  heart-broken 
sigh  issued  from  her  over-burdened  breast,  with 
the  feeling  that  for  her  it  was  all  over ;  that  joy 
was  forever  gone ;  and  that  henceforth  there  re 
mained  for  her  only  the  bitter  dregs  of  life.  A 
heart-broken  woman,  she  returned  to  the  duties 
of  life. 

Meanwhile,  the  hunter,  as  he  strode  on 
through  the  forest,  did  not  feel  the  depression 
upon  him  so  deadly  as  when  he  was  trying  to 
tear  himself  away  from  his  family  and  home. 
The  pure  air,  the  bright- shining  sun,  and  the 
blue  sky  overhead  exhilarated  him.  The  great 
pine  trees  waving  their  green  tuffs  against  the 
blue  sky  were  like  friends.  All  nature  was  full 
of  joy  and  it  reacted  upon  him.  He  cast  his  eye 
with  delight  over  the  many  beautiful  lakelets 
with  which  the  green  forest  was  everywhere  be 
gemmed.  They  reflected  the  sky  and  the  wav 
ing  pines  which  grew  on  their  banks,  and  openeci 
out  and  relieved  what  would  otherwise  have  been 
the  gloominess  of  the  woods,  and  converted  it 
into  gladsomeness ;  and  the  sight  of  them  seemed 
to  make  an  opening  in  his  lately  gloomy  breast, 


THE  OJIBWAY  267 

and  to  let  in  there  the  bright  sunshine  of  hope, 
and  even  of  joy.  Yes,  he  would  go  and  see  that 
man;  what  would  happen  when  he  saw  him  he 
could  not  divine,  but  he  would  talk  with  him, 
and  if  possible  get  him  to  cease  his  mischievous* 
practices,  and  his  little  boy  would  yet  be  well, 
He  would  be  once  more  romping  about  the  wig 
wam  door,  as  memory  so  faithfully  recalled  him, 
the  glow  of  health  in  his  liquid  black  eyes,  and 
on  his  sunny  face ;  once  more  he  would  be  peer 
ing  up  into  the  trees,  his  bow  and  arrow  held 
high  above  his  head,  aiming  at  the  chattering 
squirrels  far  up  on  the  boughs.  Yes,  this  was 
the  way  of  safety,  and  the  way  of  health — to  go 
openly  to  this  man,  and  get  him  to  stop  the  insid 
ious  poison  that  was  sapping  the  life  of  his  son. 
He  felt  that  he  was  even  prepared  to  make  great 
concessions;  to  give  this  man  large  gifts,  if  it 
were  necessary,  to  make  him  leave  off  his  nefar 
ious  practices.  When  he  had  first  been  told  the 
truth  by  Sha-bosh-kunk  he  had  felt  a  burst  of 
devouring  indignation;  he  desired  nothing  but 
to  be  set  in  reach  of  that  man  to  wipe  out  the  in 
jury  with  his  blood.  But  now  sorrow  had  come 
to  be  the  predominant  feeling— sorrow,  rather 
than  anger.  If  the  man  would  only  let  his  son 
alone  he  would  be  content.  He  reasoned  that 
medicine-men  would  do  such  things  as  practice 
against  other  people's  lives;  that  they  had  al 
ways  done  it;  that  it  had  come  down  to  them  as  a 
long  inheritance  from  the  past;  and  that  there 
fore  it  must  someway  be  borne  with.  Yes,  that 
it  must  in  some  way  even  be  right  in  a  sense,  al 
though  it  seemed  so  hard  in  his  own  case.  So, 


268  THE  OJIBWAY 

as  he  thought  of  it  he  walked  with  a  more  cheer 
ful  step  towards  the  place  where  he  was  to  camp. 
His  spirits  rose ;  he  felt  that  he  was  on  the  right 
track ;  going  candidly  to  the  man  to  reason  with 
him,  and  that  all  would  yet  be  well.  The  birds 
were  singing  joyously  in  the  trees,  laboring  to 
express  with  audible  voice  the  joy,  otherwise 
mute,  that  seemed  to  fill  meadow  and  lake,  and 
even  tree,  as  he  passed,  and  he,  too,  sang  aloud, 
in  harmony  with  nature  at  last. 

He  had  traveled  all  day  without  seeing  a  soul, 
or  any  sign  of  a  human  being's  work,  as  indeed 
he  had  not  expected  to,  and  now  that  the  sun  was 
beginning  to  decline  to  the  horizon  it  was  time 
for  him  to  make  his  camp.  He  therefore  select 
ed  a  grassy  spot  on  the  shore  of  a  lake,  that 
would  furnish  him  with  water  for  his  evening 
meal;  with  his  large  knife  he  cut  some  dry 
limbs,  broke  others,  and  piled  them,  and  soon  a 
smoke  curling  upward  told  far  and  near  where 
the  hunter  was  to  make  his  bed.  He  had  carried 
his  little  kettle  with  him,  and  in  it  he  cooked 
some  ducks  that  he  had  shot  on  the  way.  Into 
the  broth  he  poured  some  of  the  wild  rice  from 
his  food  bag,  and  soon  he  had  a  good  meal. 
Then  he  replenished  the  fire,  placed  a  stock  of 
wood  by  it  for  the  morning,  and  lighting  his  long- 
pipe  he  smoked  and  meditated  on  many  things. 
The  dark  night  had  by  this  time  fallen.  Some 
times  the  cry  of  a  wild  animal  broke  off  the  train 
of  his  reflections,  until  he  had  settled  in  his  mind 
just  from  what  that  cry  proceeded,  and  where 


THE  OJIBWAY  269 

the  creature  was,  when  he  again  took  up  the 
thread  where  he  had  left  it.  Sometimes  the 
first  thought  on  hearing  a  cry  was  that  it  was 
from  a  human  being.  That  startled  him  a  little, 
and  made  him  sudenly  turn  his  head  in  that 
direction  and  listen  intently,  not  a  muscle  of  his 
body  moving,  and  for  the  time  ceasing  to 
breathe;  then,  having  satisfactorily  disposed  of 
it  in  his  own  mind,  and  labeled  it,  he  turned  once 
more  to  his  smoking  and  to  his  reflections. 
Sometimes  he  glanced  up  at  the  starlit  sky  above 
him;  and  then  at  the  trees  behind  him,  their 
trunks  showing  with  a  fitful  red  from  the  re 
flected  light  of  his  fire.  Then  he  glanced  into  the 
black  depths  of  the  forest  behind,  where  nothing 
could  be  seen  but  blackness  and  mystery.  He 
thought  of  his  wigwam,  of  his  faithful  and  loving 
wife  and  of  the  sick  boy.  He  thought  also  of 
Sha-bosh-kunk  and  of  what  he  had  told  him ;  he 
thought  of  Big  Wind,  he  thought  of  everything. 
All  his  world  of  life  and  feeling  was  present  in 
his  thoughts  as  he  sat  there  by  his  fire  in  the 
heart  of  the  great  wilderness.  At  last  he 
glanced  up  once  or  twice  to  the  sky  to  see  what 
positions  the  great  constellations  had  assumed 
with  reference  to  the  pole-star,  and  this,  his 
great  clock,  having  told  him,  a.s  well  as  a  feeling 
of  sleepiness,  that  it  was  time  to  go  to  bed,  he 
stretched  himself  on  the  bed  of  fragrant  balsam 
boughs  that  he  had  previously  arranged  on  the 
ground,  and  covering  himself,  head  and  all,  with 
his  blanket  was  soon  oblivious  to  all  his  sorrows 
as  well  as  his  joys.  His  twenty-five-mile  walk 


270  THE  OJIBWAY 

had  agreeably  tired  him,  and  soon  only  a  faint 
ly-burning  fire  and  a  blanket  gently  rising  and 
falling  with  the  heavy  breathing  of  a  mummy- 
like  figure  told  where  the  son  of  the  wilderness 
slept. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    MEETING. 

While  Big-Elder-Brother  was  thus  approach 
ing  Leech  Lake  from  one  direction,  and  was  oc 
cupying  his  lonely  camp,  another  figure  was  ap 
proaching  it  from  the  opposite,  and  he,  too,  had 
made  his  camp  all  alone.  He  was  the  very  man 
Big-Elder-Brother  was  going  to  see,  Big  Wind. 
Unknown  to  each  other,  they  were  approaching 
with  equal  pace,  to  meet.  Big  Wind  had  gone 
out  hunting,  and  having  been  carried  so  far  in 
pursuit  of  an  animal  he  was  unable  to  make  his 
wigwam,  and  camped.  He,  too,  had  his  reflec 
tions,  as  he  sat  by  his  night-fire— of  his  wigwam, 
his  children,  his  wife,  his  friends.  But  he  had 
none  of  Big-Elder-Brother,  who  was  thinking 
so  intently  of  him.  As  he  sat  and  smoked  ha 
thought  of  narrow  escapes  he  had  had  in  hunt 
ing;  of  the  time  the  seams  of  his  birch-bark 
canoe  had  opened  and  left  him  struggling  in  the 
lake,  and  drowning.  He  thought  of  his  life 
when  he  was  a  boy.  Again  he  saw  his  little 
playmates,  armed  with  their  bows  and  arrows; 
some  of  them  were  dead  now.  The  past  seemed 
to  revive  to  him  tonight.  He  thought  of  the 
games  they  used  to  play— he  could  almost  hear 
their  voices.  He  thought  of  the  starving  times 
tried  to  keep  him  alive;  they  were  gone  now. 


272  THE  OJIBWAY 

Then  he  thought  of  his  village— of  the  different 
people,  of  their  struggles.  At  last  he  had  medi 
tated  enough,  and  having  replenished  his  fire, 
he,  too,  wrapped  himself  in  his  blanket  and 
stretched  himself  on  the  ground. 

How  long  he  slept  he  did  not  know,  hut  with  a 
feeling  of  a  great  horror  upon  him  he  awoke. 
He  heard  a  low,  blood-curdling  cry  in  the  air 
overhead,  approaching  him :  and  he  dashed  the 
blanket  from  off  his  face  and  sat  up.  The  sweat 
stood  all  over  his  face  in  great  drops,  and  some 
thing  like  a  wave  of  horror  slowly  passed  over 
his  scalp,  and  his  hair  rose  up.  He  was  chilled 
with  terror.  Soon  he  saw  the  flapping  of  an  im 
mense  pair  of  horrible  wings,  like  the  wings  of  a 
gigantic  bat,  just  clearing  the  tops  of  the  low, 
bushy  pines  in  the  opening  where  he  had  made 
his  camp,  and  coming  directly  toward  him. 
Again  that  horrible  cry— the  cry  of  a  human 
voice,  this  time  nearer  and  more  soul-fearing. 
He  endeavored  to  withdraw  his  eyes  from  the 
horrible  object,  but  he  could  not— they  were 
fascinated  there.  He  had  to  look,  and  in  the 
bright  light  of  the  moon,  which  had  risen  while 
he  slept,  he  saw  looking  down  upon  him  what 
seemed  to  be  the  face  of  a  corpse— the  face  of  a 
young  man  in  the  last  stages  of  starvation,  and 
emaciation.  He  saw  the  teeth  horribly  grinning 
from  between  the  fleshless  lips ;  where  the  wasted 
cheeks  had  been  there  was  nothing  but  skin  left, 
the  flesh  was  all  gone.  He  saw  the  eyes  peer 
ing  out  from  the  bottom  of  the  deep-sunken  pits ; 
he  heard  the  horrible  insane  laugh  issuing  from 
between  the  rows  of  teeth.  This  living  deaths- 


THE  OJIBWAY  273 

head  was  joined  to  the  skeleton  of  a  human  body, 
which  followed  close  behind,  and  was  propelled 
by  the  repulsive,  bat-like  wings.  As  it  passed 
close  over  his  head  with  an  awful  screech  he 
could  hear  the  rattling  of  the  bones  of  the  skel 
eton  as  they  struck  together;  he  could  see  the 
moonbeams  shining  through  between  the  ribs. 
It  slowly  passed  over  above  his  head,  and  dis 
appeared  beyond  with  that  dreadful  cry.  He 
had  seen  the  Pa-guk!* 

When  Big  Wind  had  recovered  his  composure 
somewhat  after  this  dreadful  visit  of  his  noc 
turnal  visitor  he  found  himself  trembling  and  in 
a  cold  sweat,  strong  hunter  though  he  was.  To 
think  of  sleep  was  impossible,  and  he  sat  the  rest 
of  the  night  by  his  fire.  He  felt  sure  that  the 
death,  either  of  himself  or  of  some  member  of 
his  family,  was  portended.  Had  he  been  able  he 
would  immediately  have  started  for  his  village, 
but  in  the  night  it  was  impossible  to  find  the 
trail.  He  therefore  spent  his  time  in  watching, 
and  finally,  to  make  himself  sufficiently  strong, 

*ThIs  omen  of  death  and  disaster,  so  much  dreaded  by  the  In 
dians,  Is  a  young  man  who  long  ago  entered  on  the  usual  fast  of 
approaching  maturity  observed  by  all  the  Indians  in  order  to 
obtain  visions  sent  by  the  Deity,  and  directions  as  to  the  future 
conduct  of  life,  by  which  visions  and  directions  all  the  future  life 
is  to  be  regulated.  Being  very  ardent,  he  prolonged  the  fast  be 
yond  the  usual  time,  exceeded  even  the  ten  days  without  food  and 
with  only  a  very  little  water  which  others  had  found  the  farthest 
attainable  limit,  so  that  he  became  extremely  thin,  and  so  light 
that  finally,  having  exceeded  all  bounds,  he  involuntarily  rose  in 
the  air,  there  being  not  enough  flesh  left  on  him  to  keep  him  to  the 
earth.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  flying  in  mid-heaven,  a  living 
skeleton,  having  no  abiding  place  either  above  or  below.  He  utters 
his  dreadful  cry  for  his  want  of  a  home,  for  his  deplorable  fate, 
for  his  ceaseless  seeking  for  some  place  to  go  to.  He  cannot  alight 
on  this  earth,  for  he  is  too  light,  and  instantly  bounds  upward 
from  it  if  he  attempts  it.  He  is  never  visible  but  in  the  night, 
and  never  appears  but  as  the  harbinger  of  death. 


274  THE  OJIBWAY 

put  on  his  kettle,  cooked  breakfast,  and  ate  it^ 
though  he  had  no  appetite  for  it.  With  the  first 
break  of  day  he  resumed  his  journey,  and  soon 
arrived  at  his  wigwam,  where  he  at  once  made 
anxious  inquiry  of  his,  wife  if  any  of  their  chil 
dren  were  dead.  Being  assured  by  her  that 
they  were  all  safe,  he  related  to  her  and  his 
friends  the  dreadful  experience  of  the  night. 
They  endeavored  to  cheer  him  up,  telling  him 
that  it  was  nothing ;  that  people  camping  in  the 
wilderness  had  many  strange  experiences;  that 
nothing  had  happened,  and  nothing  would.  Ke- 
assured  by  their  words  and  confident  manner 
and  surrounded  by  all  the  usual  sights  and 
sounds  of  his  home,  Big  Wind  shook  off  the  de 
pression,  took  heart,  and  resumed  his  occupa 
tion  in  his  usual  affairs,  to  the  exclusion  in  a 
great  measure  of  the  memory  of  what  had  hap 
pened  to  him. 

Big-Elder-Brother,  in  the  meanwhile,  had 
passed  the  night  without  incident,  had  cooked 
his  morning  meal,  and  started  for  Leech  Lake. 
As  he  had  a  day's  journey  (about  25  miles)  to 
go,  he  arrived  there  long  after  Big  Wind  had 
reached  his  wigwam,  not  having  met  a  human 
being  on  the  way.  He  proceeded  directly  to  the 
lodge  of  the  man  he  was  seeking,  inquiring  in 
the  village  where  it  was.  Putting  aside  the  skin 
that  covered  the  opening  for  a  door,  he  looked 
in,  and  there  beheld  the  man  he  came  to  see  sit 
ting  in  the  usual  place  of  the  master  of  the  lodge, 
on  a  mat  behind  the  fire  and  directly  opposite 
the  door.  He  was  greeted  with  the  usual  friend 
ly  greeting  by  the  master,  "Nind  ubimin;  nind 


THE  OJIBWAY  275 

ubimin"  ("We  are  at  home;  we  are  at  home"), 
the  equivalent  for  "come  in;  come  in"— a 
hearty  welcome.  As  he  said  these  words,  Big 
Wind  moved  over  from  the  seat  of  honor,  which 
he  had  been  occupying,  to  another  place;  and 
still  sitting,  smoothed  off  with  his  hands  the 
crumbs  which  had  fallen  upon  the  mat,  making 
it  perfectly  clean  for  his  visitor.  The  two  men 
knew  each  other  by  sight,  having  often  met ;  for 
although  their  villages  were  two  days'  journey 
apart,  the  sparse  population  enabled  them  to 
know  all. 

When  Big-Elder-Brother  was  thus  courteous 
ly  invited  by  the  master  of  the  lodge  to  enter  and 
take  the  seat  of  honor,  it  occurred  to  him  that 
they  ought  to  settle  on  what  footing  they  stood 
before  he  accepted  the  invitation.  He  had  not, 
in  coming,  formed  any  plan  in  his  mind  as  to 
what  he  should  do,  but  left  himself  to  be  guided 
by  circumstances.  Therefore,  in  answer  to 
the  polite  invitation  to  enter,  he  still  stood  out 
side,  saying: 

"I  think  you  and  I  ought  to  understand  each 
other  before  I  go  in. ' '  Then,  with  wrath  rising 
from  the  sight  of  the  author  of  all  his  woes  be 
fore  him,  he  added,  "What  do  you  mean  by 
making  bad  medicine  against  my  little  son!" 

"I  never  made  medicine  against  your  little 
son,"  answered  Big- Wind,  indignant  at  the  un 
just  accusation.  "I  never  made  bad  medicine 
against  any  one  in  my  life.  Some  of  the  In 
dians  do  it,  I  know ;  but  I  never  have.  I  am  a 
plain,  honest  man,  and  attend  to  my  own  busi- 


276  THE  OJIBWAY 

ness  and  injure  nobody.  Who  says  that  I  did?" 
he  asked. 

"Did  not  you  confess  to  Sha-bosh-kunk  that 
you  were  practicing  against  my  son's  life? 
Have  you  not  made  a  muzinini  (an  image)  of 
him,  and  do  you  not  keep  putting  bad  medicine 
to  it?  You  will  not  deny  that,  will  you?" 
shouted  Big-Elder-Brother. 

"Oh,  that  old  Sha-bosh-kunk,"  said  Big- 
Wind;  "I  suppose  he  is  the  biggest  old  liar  in 
this  country.  Did  he  not  come  up  here  and  rob 
us  of  our  goods  with  his  lucifer  match?" 

"Did  you  not  confess  to  him,  when  lie  forced 
you  into  his  che-suk-an  (divining-instrument), 
that  you  made  that  medicine  against  my  son? 
And  did  you  not  confess  to  him  that  to  make  it 
more  deadly  you  had  put  it  into  your  gun,  and 
shot  it  at  his  muzinini  out  of  your  gun?  And 
there,  I  suppose,  is  the  very  gun  you  did  it 
with,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  one  that  Big 
Wind  had  just  been  cleaning  after  his  hunt. 
' '  That  is  the  gun  you  killed  my  little  son  with, 
but  I  will  make  you  so  that  you  will  never  kill 
any  one  else,  nor  my  son  either,  you  bad  medi 
cine  dog!" 

And  with  these  words  the  infuriated  father 
raised  his  gun  and  poured  the  contents  into  Big 
Wind's  breast,  tearing  a  hole  deep  and  wide. 
He  leaned  back  against  the  wall  of  his  wigwam, 
his  head  fell  forward  upon  his  breast,  and  he 
was  dead. 

A  loud  lamentation  now  arose  from  his  wife 
and  children— the  little  children  terrified,  his 


THE  OJIBWAY  277 

wife  beside  herself.  Big-Elder-Brother  sur 
veyed  the  scene  for  a  moment,  and  then  calmly 
turned  round  and,  shouldering  his  gun,  started 
on  his  way  back  to  Gull  Lake.  But  soon  the 
shot,  the  noise,  and  the  cries  brought  the  neigh 
bors,  who  crowded  the  wigwam  and  looked  at 
the  dead  man.  "Who  did  this?"  was  the  first 
inquiry,  and  "Where  has  he  gone!"  was  the 
next.  Soon  some  of  the  men  hastily  ran  back  to 
their  wigwams,  snatched  up  their  guns,  and  were 
off  in  pursuit. 

They  had  not  far  to  go.  A  little  ways  out  of 
the  village  they  overtook  Big-Elder-Brother. 
He  had  placed  his  gun  against  a  tree  and  stood 
calmly  by  it,  filling  his  pipe.  "Stop  there!" 
cried  the  pursuers;  but  there  was  no  need  to 
cry  stop.  "What  is  this  you  have  done,  killing 
our  friend?"  they  shouted  indignantly. 

"What  do  I  care  about  the  old  bad  medicine 
dog,  whether  I  killed  him  or  not,"  was  the  un 
concerned  reply. 

"We  are  going  to  kill  you,"  they  answered. 

"What  care  I  whether  you  kill  or  not,"  he 
returned  defiantly. 

Here  a  boy  in  the  company,  recognizing  in  the 
hunted  man  his  uncle,  and  perceiving  that  a  gun 
was  leveled  at  him  and  about  to  be  discharged, 
instinctively  cried  out:  "Uncle,  stoop  down; 
you  are  going  to  be  shot,"  warning  him  to  stoop 
to  avoid  the  bullet.  But  instead  of  stooping, 
he  quietly  took  his  unloaded  gun  from  the 
tree,  and  holding  it  beside  him,  something  in  the 
attitude  of  a  soldier  at  the  attention,  looked 


278  THE  OJIBWAY 

calmly  into  the  gun  barrel  that  was  pointed  to 
ward  him.  Soon  the  flame  leaped  out  to  his 
unflinching  gaze,  and  Big-Elder-Brother  lay 
dying  on  the  ground. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  NEW  LIGHT  IN  THE  VILLAGE. 

Some  time  after  the  events  recorded  in  the  last 
chapter  a  large  group  of  Indians  were  one  day 
sitting  together  in  the  open  air  in  the  Gull  Lake 
village,  when  two  unusual  figures  were  seen 
slowly  approaching  them.  The  first  was  a 
white  man,  and  judging  by  his  garments,  was  a 
clergyman,  for  he  was  clad  in  the  long  black 
coat  of  a  Priest  of  the  Church,  and  round  his 
neck  wore  the  white  bands  of  the  clergyman  of 
that  day.  The  first  things  that  struck  one  were 
his  height,  for  he  was  six  feet,  four  inches ;  and 
the  erectness  of  his  figure,  for  he  was  as  straight 
as  an  arrow.  His  head  was  domelike,  rising 
very  high;  but  only  so  high  as  ought  to  have 
surmounted  a  body  of  such  height.  His  chest 
was  round  and  full,  and  thrown  forward.  His 
hair,  worn  long  after  the  fashion  of  those  days, 
reached  down  somewhat  over  the  neck.  When 
he  came  nearer  the  impression  of  his  very  dis 
tinguished  figure  was  confirmed  and  increased. 
One  realized  that  very  rarely  in  his  life  had  he 
seen  a  figure  at  once  so  noble  and  so  sweet.  His 
complexion  was  very  fair  and  pure;  his  hair 
dark  brown;  his  eyes  steel  gray.  His  face  was 
smoothly  shaven,  except  for  a  trace  of  whiskers. 
The  impression  that  he  gave  was  not  so  much  of 
great  strength,  bodily  or  mental,  but  of  bar- 


280  THE  OJIBWAY 

mony,  of  loftiness,  and  above  all  of  sweetness. 
Sweetness  and  purity  were  on  the  whole  the 
two  predominating  qualities  that  most  im 
pressed  those  who  that  day  saw  him  for  the  first 
time. 

His  companion  was  an  Indian,  some  years 
older  than  he;  likewise  a  tall,  muscular,  well- 
built  man.  He  was  the  interpreter.  When  he 
spoke  in  Ojibway  one  noticed  a  strong  foreign 
accent.  He  talked  the  0  jib  way  of  eastern  Can 
ada,  where  he  was  born;  which,  although  per 
fectly  intelligible,  sounded  very  strange  and 
curious  to  the  Ojibways  of  Minnesota— about  as 
strange  as  the  roughest  of  the  broad  Scotch  of 
Burns  would  sound  to  one  who  talked  the  soft 
dialect  of  London.  In  fact  it  took  all  the  In 
dians'  natural  politeness  to  keep  them  from 
guffaws  of  laughter  when  listening  to  him;  his 
0  jib  way  sounded  so  very  droll. 

He  was  the  large,  good-looking  Indian  who 
now  stood  behind  the  Missionary  James  Lloyd 
Breck.  They  were  both  a  little  doubtful  about 
coming  there  on  their  particular  errand,  suspect 
ing  that  what  they  had  to  say  and  what  they  had 
to  offer  were  not  at  all  agreeable  to  those  to 
whom  they  came.  The  Indians  knew  a  little  of 
the  subject,  and  it  was  diametrically  opposed  to 
all  their  tastes,  feelings  and  habits.  It  required 
them  to  give  up  things  which  they  dearly  loved, 
and  which  they  had  received  from  their  ances 
tors  from  time  immemorial.  It  required  the  sac 
rifice  of  what  was  to  them  all  their  joy,  and  it 
required  them  to  enter  on  a  course  of  life  in  the 
highest  degree  distasteful  to  them.  No  wonder 


THE  OJIBWAY  281 

then  that  it  was  with  somewhat  scowling  faces 
that  they  watched  the  tall  missionary  slowly  ap 
proaching,  followed  by  his  dark-skinned  inter 
preter. 

There  was  a  dead  silence  on  their  part  as 
he  came  close.  This  embarrassing  silence 
the  missionary  broke  by  observing  with  as  much 
cheerfulness  as  he  could  muster,  endeavoring 
thereby  to  light  up  the  somewhat  scowling  land 
scape,  that  it  was  ' '  a  fine  day. ' '  This  remark, 
being  translated  to  them,  met  with  the  chilly  re 
ception  of  a  dead  silence,  one  of  them  finally 
saying  that  he  "did  not  see  anything  the  matter 
with  the  day."  Again  a  silence  deeper  and 
more  embarrassing  than  before.  They  knew 
what  he  had  come  there  to  say  and  they  were 
going  to  make  it  as  difficult  as  possible  for  him  to 
say  it.  So  they  sat  there  in  silence. 

The  missionary  now  saw  what  he  suspected 
before — that  he  was  not  welcome;  that  his  sub 
ject  was  a  distasteful  one  to  them ;  and  that  he 
could  not,  by  throwing  any  gleams  of  good 
nature  athwart  the  scene,  excite  good  nature  in 
them,  and  so  make  the  statement  of  the  matter 
more  easy.  He  saw  he  must  do  it  in  cold  blood, 
and  against  the  wishes  of  his  hearers.  But  he 
was  the  faithful  servant  of  His  Master;  he  be 
lieved  that  that  Master  sent  him  to  deliver  a  mes 
sage  from  Him,  and  he  was  not  going  to  be  a 
coward,  turn  tail  and  run.  So,  in  that  chilly 
atmosphere,  he  began.  It  is  needless  to  tell  all 
he  said,  nor  how  he  said  it,  but  some  of  it  was 
that  we  had  one  Father  in  Heaven  the  maker 
and  preserver  of  all ;  that  He  was  Love ;  that  we 


282  THE  OJIBWAY 

were  all  His  children,  and  must  be  holy,  as  He 
is  holy,  that  we  may  live  forever  with  Him  in  a 
better  world  hereafter  in  heaven ;  that  to  make 
sure  of  our  salvation  He  had  sent  His  Beloved 
Son  Jesus  into  this  world  to  be  our  brother,  and 
to  show  us  how  we  ought  to  live;  that  He  had 
loved  us  and  died  for  us,  and  was  now  pleading 
for  us;  that  we  must  receive  His  Spirit  in  our 
hearts  and  live  as  the  children  of  God ;  that  we 
must  cast  off  everything  evil  and  put  on  every 
thing  good ;  that  we  must  enter  by  baptism  the 
canoe  He  had  provided  to  carry  us  over  the 
waves  of  this  troublesome  world,— His  Holy 
Church ;  and  must  love  Him,  pray  to  Him,  and 
serve  Him  every  day. 

All  this  slowly  interpreted,  was  received  in 
dead  silence  and  with  no  show  of  appreciation. 
A  long  silence  followed  the  ending  of  this  dis 
course.  Apparently  he  might  as  well  have 
spoken  to  a  heap  of  stones  or  so  many  trees. 

Finally,  in  order  to  draw  out  some  expression 
of  opinion,  the  missionary  was  constrained  to 
ask  what  they  thought  of  what  he  had  been  say 
ing.  This  remark  opened  the  flood-gates,  and  it 
appeared  that  they  were  flood-gates  of  wrath. 

' 1 Have  you  not  got  tea  in  your  house?" 
screamed  an  old  woman,  Mudji-mozoque  (The- 
wicked-moose-woman ;  that  is,  a  moose  that 
turns  and  fights,  and  such  by  her  looks  she  ap 
peared  to  be).  "Have  you  not  got  tea  in  your 
house?"  she  asked,  instinctively  bawling  very 
loud,  as  one  does  to  a  deaf  person,  he  being  the 
deaf  person,  and  not  understanding  except 
through  an  interpreter.  He  acknowledged  that 


THE  OJIBWAY  283 

he  had.  "Then  why  do  not  you  bring  it  here 
and  give  it  to  me?"  she  screamed.  "I  have  no 
tea.  I  am  starving  to  death  for  tea.  And  you 
say  you  have  it  in  your  house  and  do  not  give  me 
any.  It  is  not  true  what  you  say  about  having 
pity  on  the  Indians."  (He  had  not  said  that  at 
all. )  If  you  had  pity  on  them  you  would  bring 
tea  and  give  it  to  them.  You  just  said  that  for 
nothing.  There  is  no  truth  in  it.  If  I  had  tea 
and  saw  a  poor  person  with  none,  I  would  give 
them  some.  All  you  give  is  talk  and  wind,  and 
that  is  no  good.  And  I  have  no  tobacco,"  she 
continued,  raising  her  voice  louder  than  before. 
"I  have  nothing  to  smoke.  Why  do  you  not 
bring  me  tobacco ! ' '  she  said,  shaking  her  fist  in 
his  face. 

The  poor  man  attempted  to  pacify  her  by 
mildly  explaining  that  he  did  not  come  there  to 
give  away  tea  and  tobacco ;  that  even  if  he  gave 
away  ever  so  much,  that  would  soon  all  be 
spent— that  he  came  to  give  something  infinitely 
better,  that  they  would  never  be  able  to  spend, 
even  throughout  eternity. 

This  induced  the  inquiry  from  another  wo 
man,  Ai-e-daw-i-gi-shig-o-que  ( The-woman- 
who-is-on-either-side-of-the-world ;  that  is,  she  is 
sitting  astride  of  it  on  top  of  it,  one  leg  on  the 
one  side  of  it  and  the  other  on  the  other,  and  so 
the  woman  on  either  side  of  the  world),  when 
this  great  good  thing  was  to  be  given,  and  the 
missionary  said  that  the  full  giving  of  it  would 
be  in  the  other  world,  after  death:  "He  comes 
here  promising  to  give  us  good  things  after  we 
are  dead,"  laughed  the  woman;  "he  will  do  a 


284  THE  OJIBWAY 

great  deal  for  us  after  ive  are  dead!"  And  this 
seemed  so  supremely  ridiculous  to  her  that  she 
slapped  her  thighs,  threw  herself  back,  and 
roared  with  laughter.  "Nothing  while  we  live, 
but  all  after  we  are  dead!"  And  she  laughed 
louder  than  before  at  the  fun  of  it.  Her  laugh 
ter  was  infectious,  and  they  all  began  laughing. 
Even  the  little  children,  who  hardly  knew  what 
the  laughing  was  about,  set  up  their  little  noses 
and  te-he-heed  at  the  ridiculousness  of  giving 
things  to  persons  after  they  were  dead.  The 
missionary  saw  that  somehow  they  placed  him 
at  a  disadvantage,  and  by  some  ingenuity  made 
what  he  said  to  appear  in  a  ridiculous  light. 

Here  one  of  the  men,  Beshunun  (Arranging- 
his-feathers,  The  dude),  broke  in  on  him.  "You 
say  that  people  ought  not  to  gamble,"  he  said. 
The  missionary  had  been  careful  not  to  say  any 
thing  about  gambling,  wishing  to  state  the  fund 
amentals,  and  careful  not  unnecessarily  to 
arouse  opposition  at  first.  The  man  had  heard 
from  other  sources  that  the  Christian  religion 
did  not  allow  gambling.  "You  say  that  people 
ought  not  to  gamble.  Now  there  is  a  fine  new 
blanket.  That  blanket  will  keep  me  warm  all 
next  winter ;  that  blanket  is,  as  it  were,  my  life, 
for  it  will  preserve  my  life  next  winter;  that 
blanket  is  worth  a  good  deal  of  money.  Now, 
I  won  that  blanket  day  before  yesterday,  gam 
bling;  that  is  how  I  make  most  of  my  living, 
gambling.  Now  if  I  had  done  what  you  say  and 
been  a  Christian,  I  would  not  have  gambled,  and 
I  would  not  have  that  blanket  now ;  so  I  would 
be  poor.  So  it  appears  that  your  religion  is  a 


THE  OJIBWAY  285 

religion  that  makes  people  poor  and  miserable; 
so  it  appears  that  my  religion  is  a  good  deal  bet 
ter  than  yours,  for  it  has  given  me  that  blanket. 
I  think  I  would  be  a  long  time  of  your  religion 
before  it  ever  would  give  me  anything/' 

"Yes,"  chimed  in  Gagwedukumig  (The-man- 
who-tries-the-ground,  by  stamping  on  it  with  his 
foot  to  see  if  it  is  sound,  so  he  will  not  fall  in,  as 
he  walks),  "and  when  the  Indians  dance  in  their 
religion  they  give  presents  to  one  another  in  the 
dance,  and  get  rich.  I  was  sitting  in  the  ring  the 
other  evening  in  the  dance,  and  a  man  was  cap 
ering  round  within  the  ring,  with  a  little  stick  in 
his  hand ;  all  of  a  sudden  he  stopped  and  thrust 
that  stick  into  the  ground  before  me.  That  was 
a  pledge  that  he  made  me  a  present  of  a  pony; 
and  all  the  Indians  knew  it  to  be  so.  Yes,  and 
I  got  the  pony,  and  I  have  him  now ;  and  the  In 
dians  give  clothing  in  the  same  way  in  the  dance ; 
they  give  everything.  Now,  if  you  wish  to  make 
the  Indians  Christians,  why  do  you  not  bring 
plenty  of  clothing  here,  and  give  it  to  them,  the 
same  as  the  Indians  do  in  their  religion;  then 
perhaps  they  would  listen  to  you  and  become 
Christians;  but  if  you  give  them  nothing  but 
words  and  wind,  Kawessa  (it  is  utterly  impos 
sible).  Words  and  wind  will  not  clothe  a  per 
son  when  he  is  cold,  nor  fill  him  when  he  is  hun 
gry  ;  they  are  no  good  at  all. 

Here  another,  Shi-a-go-si-kunk  (Prevails-as- 
he-pushes-his-body-against  it),  jumped  on  to  the 
unfortunate  missionary.  "Look  here, ' '  said  he, 
"how  is  it  about  the  sick.  When  any  one  is  sick 
among  us  we  have  the  Grand  Medicine  to  make 


286  THE  OJIBWAY 

them  well.  The  medicine-man  gets  his  rattle, 
and  he  works  over  them,  and  he  sings  over  them, 
and  he  makes  an  effort  and  does  everything  to 
make  the  person  well.  And  if  that  does  not  do, 
we  get  the  whole  community  out,  and  have  a 
great  celebration  of  the  Grand  Medicine  rife 
over  them.  We  know  that  the  Great  Spirit, 
whom  you  talk  about,  gave  us  the  Grand  Medi 
cine  to  prolong  our  lives  till  extreme  old  age, 
and  to  ward  off  sickness  and  death.  And  we 
know  that  it  does  do  that,  for  there  is  hardly  a 
man  here  present  that  is  not  a  living  witness  to 
the  efficacy  of  it,  for  nearly  every  one  here  has 
been  saved  from  death  out  of  some  dangerous 
sickness  by  it.  Now  I  appeal  to  all  these  men 
here  present  if  what  I  am  saying  is  not  true. 
But  in  your  religion  you  just  let  the  sick  die. 
You  do  nothing  to  them;  but  just  use  words— 
breath  over  them— and  that  is  no  good.  Would 
you  have  us  give  up  trying  to  make  our  sick  well, 
and  just  let  them  die  before  our  faces  without 
making  any  effort  to  save  them  ? ' ' 

1 1 1  will  tell  you  what  it  is, ' '  said  Yellow  Thun 
der;  "you  are  just  trying  to  take  all  the  joy  out 
of  our  lives.  You  say  we  must  not  dance  over  a 
scalp,  you  will  not  even  allow  us  to  go  after  a 
scalp;  now  that  is  our  principal  joy,  to  dance 
over  a  scalp.  Our  forefathers  have  always 
done  that;  it  has  always  been  their  joy.  And 
you  say  we  must  not  gamble.  Gambling  is  a 
great  part  of  our  joy.  And  drumming,  and 
dancing,  and  making  Grand  Medicine  you  say 
are  no  good.  Why,  these  are  the  things  we  pass 
our  lives  in;  these  are  the  things  we  find  all  of 


THE  OJIBWAY  287 

our  pleasure  in.  And  you  say  we  are  to  give 
them  all  up.  I  do  not  think  you  will  find  any 
one  foolish  enough  to  listen  to  you. ' '  The  mis 
sionary  had  not  said  anything  about  these 
things,  but  Yellow  Thunder  had  learned  from 
other  sources  that  they  were  considered  objec 
tionable. 

"And,"  said  Bitawikumigweb  (The-man-sit- 
ting  -  on  -  the  -  world  -  that  -  is-underneath-this- 
world),  "you  come  here  and  tell  us  not  to  drink 
fire-water;  not  to  get  drunk.  We  did  not  make 
the  fire-water,  but  your  own  white  people  made 
it.  It  would  be  a  good  deal  more  suitable  for 
you  to  go  and  forbid  your  own  people  who  make 
the  fire-water,  than  to  forbid  us  who  have  noth 
ing  to  do  about  making  it.  If  your  people  did 
not  make  it,  it  would  not  be  drunk. 

"I  have  heard  of  this  talk  about  becoming 
Christians  before,"  said  old  Ogema,  "and  I 
have  proved  by  matters  within  my  own  knowl 
edge  that  it  deceives  and  destroys  the  people.  I 
knew  a  certain  Indian  who  was  deluded  by  one 
of  these  people  into  becoming  a  Christian  and 
being  baptized.  I  knew  him  well,  and  I  knew 
the  village  where  he  lived.  At  a  certain  time  he 
was  taken  sick  and  died.  When  he  died  he  went 
to  the  place  where  the  souls  of  the  white  people 
are,  and  rapped  at  the  door,— oh,  a  beautiful 
large  house!— and  asked  to  go  in.  'Who  are 
you?'  asked  the  doorkeeper  inside.  'I  am  a 
Christian  Indian. '  'Oh,'  said  he,  'there  are 
only  white  people  here.  The  Indians  all  go  to 
that  other  place  you  see  over  there.  You  had 
better  go  there,  for  no  Indian  will  be  taken  in 


288  THE  OJIBWAY 

here.'  So  there  he  went,  and  tried  to  get  in. 
1  Who  are  you, '  asked  the  one  on  the  inside.  '  I 
am  a  Christian  Indian/  'The  Christians  all 
live  in  that  place  you  see  over  there/  said  the 
man,  pointing  to  where  he  came  from ; '  there  are 
no  Christians  in  this  place ;  nothing  but  Grand 
Medicine-men  here.  You  will  have  to  go  over 
there  since  you  are  a  Christian.'  So  the  poor 
man  was  not  allowed  into  any  place— had  no 
place  to  go  to,  but  has  to  wander  about  there,  a 
homeless  ghost  forever.  He  came  back  and  told 
the  Indians  in  that  village  what  had  happened  to 
him,  and  for  none  of  them  ever  to  be  deluded 
into  becoming  Christians,  and  I  heard  him  my 
self.  All  the  Indians  heard  what  he  said  after 
he  came  back.  I  do  not  think  any  one  will  ever 
be  so  foolish,  after  what  that  Christian  Indian 
reported,  as  to  become  a  Christian, " 

"Yes,"  said  Agamakiwewedunk  (He-who- 
speaks  -  with  -  the-voice-of-one-speaking-on-the- 
land-across-the-ocean),  "the  Great  Spirit  made 
the  Indians  and  the  white  people  different.  He 
gave  the  white  people  their  religion  to  live  by— 
that  is  all  right  enough  for  them ;  and  He  gave 
the  Indians  their  religion  to  live  by,  the  Grand 
Medicine;  and  when  the  white  men  die  they  go 
to  the  place  which  the  Great  Spirit  has  made  for 
them ;  and  when  the  Indians  die  they  go  to  a  dif 
ferent  place,  which  the  Great  Spirit  has  made 
for  His  Grand  Medicine  children.  Both  re 
ligions  are  good— the  Christian  for  the  white 
men  and  the  Grand  Medicine  for  the  Indians. 
Neither  should  change  to  the  religion  of  the 
other." 


THE  OJIBWAY  289 

"It  has  always  been  a  matter  of  wonderment 
to  me,"  said  Ba-omba-kumig  (The-man-who- 
comes-rising-up-out-of-the-earth),  why  the  white 
people  should  try  to  turn  the  Indians  from  their 
religion.  I  think  they  pay  the  missionaries  so 
much  a  head  for  every  one  they  baptize.  Money 
is  at  the  bottom  of  it  after  all— they  are  so  fond 
of  money.  How  much  are  you  to  be  paid  for 
each  one  of  the  Indians  who  is  foolish  enough 
to  allow  you  to  baptize  him?"  he  asked  the  mis 
sionary. 

He  modestly  disclaimed  that  he  was  to  be  paid 
any  sum  at  all,  or  had  any  pecuniary  interest. 

"No,  it  is  not  that,"  said  Shoniawugizhickok 
( The-woman-whose-sky-is-made-of -money ) ,  "it 
is  because  they  are  afraid  of  the  Indians.  They 
know  what  terrible  fighters  the  Ojibways  are. 
Although  the  Sioux  are  great  fighters,  the  Ojib 
ways  surpass  them,  for  this  was  Sioux  country 
once  where  we  are  living  now,  and  the  Ojibways 
whipped  them  out  of  it.  Now  the  whites  know 
that  if  the  Ojibways  become  Christians  they  will 
not  fight  any  more;  so,  being  afraid  of  them, 
they  try  to  make  them  Christians,  that  they  may 
not  have  them  to  fight." 

Here  one  of  the  group,  Netaweweash  (Knows- 
how-to-make-a-noise  when-flying),  thought  of 
another  thing.  "Do  you  not  have  another  coat 
at  home  besides  that  one  you  are  wearing?"  he 
asked. 

The  missionary  confessed  that  he  did  have  an 
other  for  winter  use. 

1 '  Then  why  do  not  you  bring  it  here  and  give 
it  to  me?"  he  asked.  "If  I  had  two  coats  I 


290  THE  OJIBWAY 

would  give  one  of  them  to  some  one  who  was 
poor.  I  have  no  coat  at  all,  only  a  blanket. 
Why  do  you  not  give  that  other  to  me?  You 
have  no  use  for  it.  I  guess  you  are  stingy. ' ' 

"Yes,  those  Christians  are  all  stingy, "  said 
Owayequakumig  (The  -  one  -  who-comes-to-the- 
end-of-the-land,  as  to  a  lake,  etc.).  "Have  you 
not  got  food  in  your  house  f "  he  asked. 

"Again  the  missionary  acknowledged  that  he 
had. 

' l  Then  why  do  you  not  distribute  it  among  all 
of  us?  If  you  did  we  would  know  that  you 
really  pitied  us.  That  is  what  7  would  do  if  I 
had  food*  If  a  poor  man  would  come  to  my 
wigwam  and  I  saw  that  he  had  nothing  I  would 
give  him  all  he  wanted.  That  is  the  way  with 
the  Indians— they  are  liberal,  generous-hearted. 
But  you  Christians  are  all  alike,  all  stingy ;  you 
all  keep  food  and  clothing,  more  than  you  need, 
and  you  do  not  give  it  to  anybody.  Come  now, 
be  a  man.  Bring  everything  you  have  in  your 
house  and  distribute  it  among  us.'* 

The  missionary  tried  to  explain  that  he  re 
quired  to  keep  something  ahead  for  his  own  fu 
ture  needs ;  but  they  professed  not  to  be  able  to 
understand  such  a  thing. 

"See  now,"  said  they,  and  three  or  four  of 
them  spoke  at  once,  "we  never  keep  anything 
ahead,  and  we  get  along  very  well.  When  the 
season  for  one  kind  of  berry  is  past,  another  is 
ripening  for  us;  and  when  the  berries  are  all 
past,  the  wild  rice  is  ready  for  us;  and  when 
there  is  no  more  any  wild  rice  in  the  fall,  we  find 
the  deer,  and  they  are  fat.  When  the  deer  are 


THE  OJIBWAY  291 

all  gone  we  find  the  fish  or  something  else. 
Come  now,  and  divide  among  us  everything  you 
have,  and  you  will  be  provided  for  some  way, 
just  as  we  are ;  and  then  we  will  know  that  you 
really  have  a  kindly  feeling  toward  us." 

This  was  rather  turning  the  tables  on  their 
visitor ;  and  he  felt  that  he  was  being  somehow, 
without  any  fault  of  his  own,  placed  in  a  false 
position ;  still  he  did  not  yield.  He  returned  to 
his  original  position  and  urged  them  to  become 
Christians  that  they  might  have  life. 

"Is  it  so,  then,  that  some  one  is  trying  to  kill 
us?"  answered  Midwewecumig  (Making-a- 
sound-on-the-earth-with-his-f eet-walking) ,  play 
ing  on  the  word  "life."  And  with  that  he 
looked  round  in  great  pretended  alarm.  "Per 
haps  it  is  Sioux,"  he  said,  looking  again  toward 
the  bushes. 

All  broke  out  in  a  general  laugh  at  this  sally 
somewhat  to  the  discomfiture  of  the  missionary. 
Although  he  was  sure  that  all  they  said  about 
non-distribution  of  goods  and  about  stinginess, 
and  hypocritical  professions  of  interest  could 
be  answered,  the  objections  were  hurled  so  fast 
that  he  did  not  have  an  opportunity  of  answer 
ing  them,  and  objections  were  made  in  a  word 
which  it  would  take  a  discourse  of  some  length 
to  answer,  and  there  was  such  a  cloud  of  arrows 
discharged  at  him  that  it  seemed  of  no  use  to 
take  his  shield  and  stop  one,  when  the  air  was 
filled  with  them. 

Here,  however,  there  came  unexpectedly  re 
lief  to  the  hard-beset  Missionary.  A  man,  Kichi- 
amink  (Big-Star)  advanced  to  him  and  strok- 


292  THE  OJIBWAY 

ing  his  shoulder  soothingly  with  his  fingers,  said, 
"You  are  a  good  man.  You  mean  well  coming 
talking  to  us  about  God  and  Heaven.  But  I 
know  far  more  about  these  things  than  you  do, 
and  I  can  teach  you.  You  talk  about  Heaven, 
but  you  have  never  been  there,  but  I  have.  And 
you  talk  about  God,  but  you  have  never  seen 
Him.  I  have,  and  I  have  talked  with  Him.  Look 
here  and  I  will  tell  you."  As  he  said  this  he 
faced  round  towards  the  Indians.  ' '  I  was  lying 
on  my  bed  one  day  when  some  one  I  do  not  know 
who  he  was,  perhaps  an  angel,  came  and  said  to 
me,  make  ready;  I  will  call  for  you  tomorrow 
and  take  you  to  Heaven.  I  was  lying  on  my  bed 
the  next  day,  about  noon,  when  sure  enough  he 
came  for  me,  and  took  me  away  up,  up,  away 
up  ever  so  far.  I  thought  I  would  never  get 
there,  it  was  so  far;  and  he  took  me  through  a 
hole  in  the  top  of  the  sky,  and  I  stood  on  the 
outside  of  it,  and  I  saw  Heaven,  and  I  saw  God 
and  talked  with  Him.  So  you  see  I  know  all 
about  what  you  speak  of  only  through  hearsay. 
"I  did  not  see  any  trees  growing  there  on  the 
other  side  of  the  sky,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "but 
I  saw  grass,  and  though  I  plucked  some  of  the 
grass  and  brought  it  with  me  and  showed  it  to 
my  fellow-Indians,  yet  still  they  will  not  be 
lieve  in  me."  Here  he  glanced  with  an  ag 
grieved  look  at  the  Indians,  and  they,  forgetting 
for  the  time  the  Missionary,  turned  their  atten 
tion  to  him,  their  countenances  still  showing 
their  obstinate  unbelief,  and  unwillingness  to 
take  him  for  prophet  and  leader,  notwithstand 
ing  the  ocular  proof  he  had  showed  them,  of 
grass  gathered  from  the  upper  side  of  the  sky. 


THE  OJIBWAY  293 

His  burning  desire  to  be  acknowledged  by  them 
as  their  great  man,  and  their  obstinate  resist 
ance  came  in  very  opportunely  for  the  relief  of 
the  Missionary. 

But  another  man,  Wa-Se-gon-esh-kunk,  He- 
who  -  makes  -  a  -  glittering  -  track  -  in  -  the  - 
snow  -  as  -  he  -  walks,  returned  to  the  subject. 
Said  he :  God  has  no  jurisdiction  over  this  Island 
(America)  nor  over  the  Indians.  Wenabozho  is 
in  charge  here.  He  made  the  Indians  and  he 
is  in  charge  of  them.  It  may  be  that  God  has 
jurisdiction  in  other  places,  across  the  ocean, 
and  over  the  people  living  there,  as  you  say ;  but 
not  here. 

Another  man,  Pi-zhi-ki  (The  Buffalo),  now 
addressed  the  Missionary.  You  speak  to  us 
about  Almighty  God,  he  said.  We  have  Al 
mighty  God  with  us  in  the  wigwam.  That  drum 
—pointing  to  one— is  Almighty  God.  It  has  a 
voice.  It  can  speak.  And  we  find  by  experience 
that  when  we  ask  anything  of  it,  it  is  granted. 

Here  there  spoke  up  an  old  warrior,  Queki- 
gizhick  ( The  -  man  -  of  -  the  -  turning-heavens) : 
" These  people  tell  us,"  said  he,  "that  we  must 
be  praying  all  the  time,  our  eyes  always  directed 
upward,  and  we  praying,  praying.  If  I  became 
a  Christian  I  would  starve  to  death,  for  I  could 
not  see  any  wild  beast  to  shoot,  because  my  eyes 
would  always  be  directed  toward  heaven,  pray 
ing.  So  I  would  starve  to  death." 

"Oh,"  said  Sha-bosh-kunk,  summing  it  all 
up,  "the  Christians  will  all  be  toads  in  the  next 
world ;  they  will  be  lizards,  and  the  most  hideous 
crawling  things.  They  will  be  serpents  and  rep- 


294  THE  OJIBWAY 

tiles.  Only  the  Grand  Medicine  people  will  be 
resplendent  and  glorious.  This  man  is  merely 
trying  to  delude  the  Indians;  to  deceive  them, 
and  to  destroy  them.  But  it  does  not  seem  that 
there  would  be  any  one  so  foolish, "  he  added 
triumphantly,  "as  to  listen  to  him."  And  with 
that  he  set  the  example  of  breaking  up  the  con 
ference  by  moving  away,  in  which  he  was  fol 
lowed  by  the  others,  and  the  affair  was  at  an 
end. 

Apparently  the  missionary's  purpose  had 
met  with  a  signal  defeat.  Not  the  least  ray  of 
hope  could  be  gleaned  from  anything  that  had 
been  said  by  any  one.  Universal  condemnation, 
a  universal  spurning  of  the  matter  offered, 
seemed  the  net  result.  That  door  seemed  tightly 
closed  and  locked,  and  double  barred  and 
bolted. 

As  the  conference  was  breaking  up  and  the 
people  dispersing,  Breck  told  them,  as  his  final 
word,  something  that  in  the  light  of  all  that  had 
passed  sounded  very  strange,  indeed  impossible 
of  belief ;  and  that  was,  that  notwithstanding  all 
that  had  been  said,  they  would  all,  if  they  lived 
a  few  years,  be  Christians.  This  they  received 
with  perfect  incredulity,  each  one  saying  that 
though  all  the  other  Indians  became  Christians, 
—even  though  such  an  utterly  impossible  thing 
as  that  should  happen,— he  or  she,  the  speaker, 
never  would. 

Said  Good-Sounding-Sky :  ' '  Though  such  an 
impossible  tiling  should  come  to  pass  as  that  the 
Indians  should  become  of  Those-who-pray 
(Christians),  I  for  one  never  will." 


THE  OJIBWAY 


295 


" 


Nor  I,"  said  Yellow  Thunder;  "nor  any  one 
of  us—  never  as  long  as  the  world  lasts.  " 

Every  one  present  endorsed  that  sentiment. 

The  missionary  moved  away,  somewhat  de 
jectedly,  it  must  be  confessed,  and  as  an  answer 
to  all  that  had  been  said  went  before  a  rustic 
altar,  surmounted  by  a  cross,  which  he  had 
erected  under  a  tree  at  a  little  distance,  and  his 
interpreter  joining  with  him  in  the  Ojibway 
tongue  repeated  a  few  old  words,  which  indeed 
the  missionary  did  not  understand,  but  which 
he  had  learned  by  heart. 

The  words,  few  but  pregnant,  were  these: 
We  give  them  in  Ojibway  with  the  English 
equivalent  of  each  under  it  : 


Nin 
i 

debueyendum 

am  persuaded  in 
my    mind 

ayad 

that  He 
is 

Kizhee-Manido 

He  who  has     God, 
His    origin 
from  no  one 
but  Himself 
(the  uncreated), 

Weosimind 

He  Who  is  the 
Father ; 


Gwetamigwendagozit, 

He  Who  is  almighty ; 


gaye 

and 

Gaye 

And 


U 

that 


nin 

i 


ga-ozhitod 

He  Who  made 
it 

aki: 

earth. 

debueyendum 

am   persuaded  in 
my  mind, 

ayad 

that  He  Is, 

bayezhigonidjin 

the  only  one  of  Him 

Ga-anishinabewiigut      iniu 

He  Who  was  made  a  human     that  One, 
being  by 


that  sky 

(or  Heaven) 


Jesus 

Jesus 


Christ 

Christ 


Oguisun 

Son  Mis. 


Debeniminunk ; 

He  Who  is  Lord  of  us, 

Panizinidjin 

Him  Who  is  holy, 


296 


THE  OJIBWAY 


Oslikinigiquen 

young  unmarried 


woman 


Ochichagwun 

The  Spirit 

Gi-nigiigut       inu 

that   He  was  that 

born  of  one 

gi-gotugiigut 

that   He  was   tor 
tured  by  one 

gi-sassagaquaont 

that  He  was  nailed  upon 

azhideatigong,      gi-nibot     gaye 

the  cross  stick  of  that  lie  and 

wood :  died 


Manyun : 

Mary; 


inu     Pontius     Pilatum,     Gaye 

that  Pontius  Pilate,  and 


gi-pugidenimint ; 

that  He  was  buried  ; 

Nibowinink, 

to  the  place  of 
the  dead  ; 

gi-abidjibad 

He  rose  from  the 


Gi-izhad 

that  He  went 

Nesogwunagutinik 

That  on  the  third  day  His. 


idush 

But 


dead 

ishpiming 

up  above 
(to  Heaven)  : 

dush      ima 

but  there 

okichinikanink 

on  the  right  hand  of 
Him, 


gi-izhi-ombishkad ; 

that  He  thus  ascended  ; 


Namatubi 

He  sits 


Kizhee 


Who  has 
His  origin 
from  no  one 
but  Himself 
(the  uncreated) 


Manidon 

God, 


Weosimimindjin 

Him  Who  is  the 

Father, 

Gwetanrigwendagozinidjin ; 

Him  Who  is  Almighty. 

ge-bi-ondjibad 

that  He  shall  come 
from  that  place 

die    dibakonad 

to          Judge  them — 

nebonidjin. 

them  that  are 
dead. 


mi 

So 


bemadizinidjin 

them  that  are  living 


dush 

but 


gaye 

and 


iwide 

thence 


THE  OJIBWAY 


297 


Nin       debweyendum       ayad 

I  am  persuaded  In       that  lie  is 

my  mind 

Ochichag ; 

the  Spirit ; 

Gave      ayamaguk      gwayuk 

and  that  there  is  true 

that  thing, 

gaye 

and 

owikanisindiwad      enamiadjig; 

that  there  is  a  brother-         those  who  pray 
hood  of  (Christians). 

Webinumagonk 

That  there  is  a  throw 
ing  away  of 

mudji-izMwebiziwinun ; 

bad  deeds. 

wiawiman 

the  body 

Gaye      Kagige 

and  everlasting  life 


Pamzid 

He  Who 
is  Holy— 


anamiawm ; 

religion 
(literally  prayer) 


Che      abidjibamaguk 


To 


arise  from  the  dead 
that  thing 


bimadiziwin      dagomaguk. 


that  there  is. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

"iN  THE  MIDST  OF  LIFE  WE  ABE  IN  DEATH." 

Some  time  after  this,  when  the  Moon-of-the- 
freezing-over-of-the-waters  -  -  as  the  Ojibways 
poetically  call  November— was  shining,  Good- 
Sounding-Sky,  with  quite  a  number  of  families 
of  the  Gull  Lake  village,  determined  to  go  a 
considerable  distance  off  on  their  fall  hunt,  to 
the  edge  of  the  great  prairies  stretching  indefi 
nitely  to  the  westward  so  far  as  they  knew,  in 
order  to  obtain  a  more  plentiful  supply  of  game, 
and  especially  of  buffalo,  which  abounded  in 
the  Wild  Bice  River  country.  They,  therefore, 
journeyed  leisurely,  camping  at  short  intervals 
every  night,  hunting  to  provide  food  as  they 
proceeded,  and  having  a  royal  time.  Nothing 
more  enjoyable  could  be  imagined.  The  crisp 
November  air  was  stimulating,  the  sun  shone 
brightly  every  day.  The  country  through 
which  they  passed  was  fine  forest  land,  of  all 
kinds  of  trees,  interspersed  with  innumerable 
lakes— the  smaller  ones  covered  with  a  thin  film 
of  ice,  but  the  larger  ones  still  sparkling  in  the 
sun.  Game  was  abundant,  and  they  lived  like 
princes,  on  the  best.  AVhen  their  camp  was 
made  at  night  there  was  a  universal  scene  of 
joy,  in  which  only  shouts  of  merriment  were 
heard.  The  out-of-door  life,  the  abundance  of 
the  finest  food,  and  the  crisp  air  kept  them  all 


THE  OJIBWAY  299 

in  splendid  health'.  They  roamed  through  an 
apparently  illimitable  domain,  which  was  all 
their  own,  filled  with  everything  they  needed; 
where  everything  was  provided  beforehand 
without  any  effort  of  theirs,  and  where  they  had 
only  to  put  forth  their  hand  and  take  it.  Their 
life  was  a  continual  picnic.  Only  enjoyment 
was  thought  of,  and  each  day  seemed  more  filled 
with  it  than  the  preceding.  Life  was  one  long 
holiday,  without  labor  and  without  care.  If 
such  a  thing  as  a  happy  life  could  be  found  on 
earth,  surely  they  had  it.  Neither  emperors  nor 
kings  could  boast  the  plenty,  the  freedom  from 
care,  the  royal  range,  the  noble  sport  which  they 
had. 

So  the  days  wore  on  until  they  arrived  at  the 
edge  of  the  great  prairie;  and  in  the  border  of 
the  woods,  where  there  was  shelter  and  water, 
they  fixed  their  more  permanent  camp.  Look 
ing  over  the  vast  prairie,  stretching  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  they  could  see  the  dark  forms 
of  the  buffalo  scattered  here  and  there  in 
groups,  and  moving  about.  Already  they  an 
ticipated  the  succulent  buffalo  meat,  and 
thought  of  the  rich  pemicaigun  (pemmican) 
which  they  would  carry  to  their  winter  home. 

One  bright  November  morning,  Good-Sound 
ing-Sky,  Yellow  Thunder,  and  Ogema,  with 
their  families  and  some  others,  including  Eed- 
Sky-of-the-Morning,  The-First-Heavens,  and 
Traveling-the-Heavens,  left  the  main  camp  and 
went  out  quite  a  distance  on  the  prairie  after 
buffalo.  They  were  all  in  the  highest  spirits, 
for  Nature  was  smiling  upon  them,  and  her  joy 


300  THE  OJIBWAY 

was  infectious.  There  was  not  a  cloud  in  the 
blue  sky;  a  warm  south  wind  was  blowing,  and 
the  sun  shone  just  warm  enough  to  thaw  a 
little  the  powdering  of  snow  that  was  on  the 
ground.  It  was  an  ideal  autumn  day  of  an 
autumn  that  was  unusually  prolonged.  As  it 
was  so  warm  and  pleasant,  and  had  been,  and  as 
there  were  no  signs  of  a  change,  they  did  not  en 
cumber  themselves  with  unnecessary  clothing, 
taking  only  the  thin  cotton  things  suitable  for 
the  fall  season.  So,  in  the  highest  spirits,  they 
moved  toward  the  dark  forms  of  the  buffalo. 
They  were  to  return  to  the  camp  that  night,  and 
expected  to  have  a  good  supply  of  the  juicy 
buffalo  steak  with  them. 

By  noon  they  were  far  out  on  the  prairie. 
The  wind  blew  more  strongly  from  the  south, 
and  the  little  snow  thawed  still  more.  In  a 
moment  a  total  change  occurred.  The  wind 
veered  suddenly  to  the  north,  the  sky  became 
overcast,  it  turned  bitterly  cold,  and  the  snow 
came  down  thickly.  The  blizzard  and  winter 
were  upon  them!  They  could  see  nothing,  not 
even  a  few  feet,  for  the  snow  filled  the  air.  The 
strong,  piercing  wind  searched  their  thin  cotton 
garments,  and  even  the  blanket  which  each  had 
brought.  To  stay  in  that  wind  long  was  to 
freeze  to  death,  and  there  was  no  shelter  any 
where—not  a  tree  nor  a  bush  behind  which  they 
could  hide ;  and  they  had  no  idea  which  way  to 
go  to  reach  their  camp,  now  miles  behind.  The 
blinding  and  whirling  snow  made  it  impossible 
to  tell  any  direction.  Had  they  been  in  timber 
the  matter  would  have  been  easy— make  a  huge 


THE  OJIBWAY  301 

fire,  stay  in  the  shelter  of  the  woods,  await  the 
end  of  the  storm,  and  enjoy  it.  But  here  it  was 
death  to  stay,  and  death  to  go  anywhere.  In 
one  minute  Nature,  from  being  most  smiling, 
had  changed  to  be  most  dreadful.  From  woo 
ing  with  smiles  she  had  become  most  savage, 
and  threatened  speedy  destruction.  She  pelted 
them  with  snow  and  pierced  them  with  wind, 
and  bore  down  upon  them  pitilessly  and  with  an 
awful  insistence.  She  answered  their  distress 
only  by  bearing  down  upon  them  more  over 
whelmingly. 

They,  stunned  by  this  sudden  and  appalling 
change,  instinctively  huddled  together  for  the 
protection  of  each  other's  bodies  from  the 
piercing  wind;  for  the  mutual  comfort  of  each 
other's  presence,  and  for  consultation. 

' '  This  is  terrible, ' '  said  one.  ' '  It  seems  likely 
now  that  we  are  all  to  die  here,  for  there  is 
neither  shelter,  nor  wood  to  make  a  fire;  nor 
can  we  tell  in  which  direction  the  timber  is,  to 
go  toward  it." 

"Yes,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "if  we 
stay  here  we  die;  and  if  we  go  anywhere  we 
die,  and  there  seems  nothing  else  for  it!" 

"And,"  said  Ogema,  "this  storm  is  not 
going  to  be  over  soon  by  any  means.  It  will 
last  two  or  three  days,  and  then  turn  very  cold, 
as  it  always  does  after  such  a  blizzard,  and  dur 
ing  it.  And  here  we  have  on  our  thin  fall  cotton 
things,  for  we  did  not  expect  anything  like  this 


so  soon.' 


"And,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky's  wife,  "we 
have  no  food  with  us  except  that  partridge  that 


302  THE  OJIBWAY 

Ogema  shot,  for  we  expected  to  get  plenty  of 
buffalo  meat,  and  to  be  back  with  our  friends 
tonight.  So  if  we  do  not  freeze  to  death,  we 
shall  starve  to  death. ' ' 

' i Hurry  up,"  said  Yellow  Thunder's  wife, 
'  *  and  decide  on  something,  for  I  am  almost  dead 
already  in  this  piercing  wind.  Let  us  go  some 
where  or  do  something,  for  we  cannot  endure 
it  here. " 

In  this  sore  perplexity  a  woman  found  the 
right  thing  to  do.  Said  the  wife  of  Bi-zhu— 
The  Lynx:  "I  notice  here,  to  one  side  of  us, 
a  depression  in  the  ground  in  the  lee  of  a  little 
hummock.  Let  us  all  get  into  it  and  scrape 
away  the  snow,  and  the  falling  snow  will  soon 
cover  us  over,  and  we  shall  be  out  of  this  intol 
erable  wind  at  any  rate,  and  that  will  be  a  great 
deal.  And  let  us  stay  there,  if  we  live,  till  the 
storm  subsides.  And  there,"  she  continued, 
i  i  Ogema  accidentally  brought  his  snow-shoes 
with  him,  though  there  was  no  snow;  but  it 
seems  as  if  he  brought  them  with  him  to  pre 
serve  us.  Let  us  stick  them  in  the  snow  above 
where  we  are,  and  our  friends  coming  to  look 
for  us,  after  the  storm  is  over,  will  see  them, 
and  know  we  are  here,  and  come  and  dig  us 
out." 

' '  How !  How !  How ! ' '  They  all  responded ; 
"let  us  do  it;  that  is  the  very  best  thing  we  can 
do;  there  lies  our  only  chance." 

With  that  they  made  a  rush  for  the  depres 
sion;  and  kicking  and  shoveling  away  the  snow 
with  their  feet,  and  using  their  hands  and 
blankets,  they  partially  cleared  it  out,  and  hud- 


THE  OJIBWAY  303 

dling  together  there  in  a  group,  the  snow,  of 
which  the  air  was  full,  quickly  spread  a  pall 
over  them,  and  they  were  no  longer  in  the  pierc 
ing  blast. 

Here  they  remained  some  time  in  silence,  lis 
tening  only  to  the  beating  of  their  hearts— 
inwardly  revolving  what  their  chances  for  life 
were.  The  warmth  of  each  other's  bodies 
helped  them  a  good  deal  and  then  there  was  a 
light  snowy  covering  spread  all  over  them  like 
a  sheet.  The  warmth  of  their  bodies  and  their 
ascending  breaths  melted  the  snow  along  their 
sides  and  overhead,  and  caused  it  to  retreat 
from  them,  leaving  them  in  a  sort  of  chamber. 
It  is  true  the  water,  caused  by  their  breath 
melting  the  snow  overhead,  where  it  made  a 
small  hole  for  exit,  dripped  down  upon  them, 
and  made  their  thin  cotton  garments  thoroughly 
wet,  and  they  were  exceedingly  uncomfortable; 
still  it  was  paradise  compared  with  being  out 
in  that  searching  wind.  It  was  with  a  sense  of 
blessedness  that  they  listened  and  heard  the 
wind  rave  over  their  heads  outside,  while  they 
were  in  a  chamber  of  absolute  stillness. 

' ' This  is  blessed,  anyway,"  said  Good-Sound 
ing-Sky,  ' '  to  be  here  out  of  that  wind.  I  thought 
it  would  pierce  through  me." 

"Yes,"  said  his  wife,  "we  would  not  have 
lived  long  if  The  Lynx's  wife  had  not  thought 
of  this  place.  I  do  not  think  one  of  us  would 
have  lived  till  the  evening. ' ' 

"We  are  very  uncomfortable  here,"  said 
Ogema;  "sopping  wet,  and  so  cold.  Still,  any 
thing  is  better  than  being  out  there." 


304  THE  OJIBWAY 

"Who  would  have  thought,"  said  Yellow 
Thunder,  "that  from  being  a  warm,  sunshiny, 
thawing  day  it  would  in  an  instant  turn  into  a 
piercing  blizzard?  Yet  I  have  seen  such  things 
before,  and  I  remember  the  old  Indians  telling 
us  to  look  out  for  a  blizzard  when  it  is  too  warm 
and  nice  in  winter  and  the  wind  blowing  softly 
from  the  south. " 

"I  began  to  think,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky, 
"just  before  it  came,  that  there  was  something 
coming  by  a  peculiar  look  on  the  horizon,  some 
thing  like  a  mirage." 

"Oh!  I  am  so  glad  I  left  my  children  at 
home,"  said  The  Lynx's  wife.  "I  thought 
of  bringing  them,  but  somehow  changed  my 
mind.  Now  they  are  warm  by  the  wigwam  fire, 
and  I  am  thankful.  We  old  people  may  live 
through  it,  but  they  would  surely  have  died. ' ' 

"I  tell  you  what,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky's 
wife,  "the  way  the  white  people  have  is  not  so 
bad  after  all.  They  raise  gardens  of  stuff,— 
potatoes,  corn,  and  things, — and  put  them  in 
cellars  under  where  they  live;  and  it  does  not 
matter  to  them  whether  it  storms  like  this  or  not, 
they  are  snug  and  happy.  But  we  Indians  never 
have  anything  ahead,  so  we  have  to  go  out  and 
look  for  something  to  eat,  no  matter  what  the 
weather  is.  We  have  always  thought  them 
foolish;  but  I  declare  I  do  not  know  that  they 
are  so  foolish  after  all." 

"If  I  live,"  said  The  Lynx's  wife,  "till  an 
other  spring  I  am  going  to  plant  potatoes  and 
corn  enough  to  keep  my  little  children  alive  in 
storms  like  this." 


THE  OJIBWAY  305 

1 1  Perhaps  that  jnissionary  was  not  such  a  fool 
after  all,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky.  "He  told 
us  we  should  raise  garden  stuffs  to  live  on  in  the 
winter,  and  that  he  would  go  out  into  the  fields 
himself  with  us  and  show  us  how  to  do  it.  He 
told  us,  too,  that  we  would  see  the  day  when 
all  the  buffalo,  elk,  and  deer  would  be  driven 
away,  and  that  we  would  have  to  do  something 
else  for  a  living.  But  it  does  not  seem  to  me 
that  it  is  possible  for  their  numbers  ever  to  be 
diminished,  there  are  so  many  of  them.  Why, 
there  are  millions  and  millions  of  buffaloes  on 
these  prairies!  How  could  all  of  them  ever  be 
killed!  Just  hear  that  blast!  I  am  thankful 
that  I  am  here  out  of  it,  any  way. ' ' 

Hour  after  hour  the  wind  continued  to  blow 
over  them,  and  the  covering  of  snow  became 
thicker.  Most  of  the  time  they  remained  in 
quiet;  sometimes  they  talked.  Then  they  could 
perceive  that  it  was  night,  for  it  grew  darker 
in  their  cavern.  A  long,  dreary  night  it  was. 
They  mostly  kept  awake  but  sometimes  one 
would  fall,  for  an  instant,  borne  down  with 
sleep. 

Another  day  dawned,— they  knew  it  by  the 
feeble  light  that  struggled  through  from  over 
head,— and  still  the  wind  blew  as  fiercely  as  at 
the  beginning.  They  were  shivering,  shudder 
ing,  uncomfortable.  They  had  the  one  part 
ridge,  and  of  this  they  each  took  a  bite  raw. 

After  they  had  all  been  silent  a  long  time, 
Red-sky-of -the-morning  began  to  speak.  k  l  There 
is  one  thing  that  has  come  to  me  very  strongly 
since  we  have  got  into  this  snow  cave.  Even 


306  THE  OJIBWAY 

before  that,  and  when  the  blizzard  first  struck 
us  and  I  saw  that  we  were  going  to  be  in  a  bad 
fix,  it  came  into  my  mind.  In  fact,  it  was  the 
very  first  thing  I  thought  of." 

"What  is  that!"  they  asked. 

"It  is  that  Sioux  girl.  Somehow  her  face 
came  up  right  before  me  when  this  misfortune 
struck  us.  And  I  have  not  been  able  to  cease 
thinking  of  her  since. " 

"Had  you  not  thought  of  her  before!"  asked 
The  Lynx's  wife. 

"No,  a  good  while  has  elapsed  since  it  hap 
pened,  and  I  hardly  ever  thought  of  it.  But 
now  all  of  a  sudden  it  is  revived  in  my  mind.  I 
know  you  are  all  uncomfortable  and  suffering, 
but  you  are  suffering  in  your  bodies  only.  I 
am  suffering  not  only  in  my  body,  but  in  my 
mind.  Of  the  two,  I  think  the  suffering  of  the 
mind  is  worse  to  bear.  And  it  is  all  about  that 
girl.  I  see  her  face  just  as  she  looked  when 
I  took  out  my  knife  and  she  asked  me  to  let  her 
go.  She  has  been  with  me  somehow  ever  since 
I  got  in  here.  You  see  I  do  not  make  any  secret 
of  it,  for  you  all  know  I  did  it." 

"It  is  curious  that  you  forgot  it  so  long,  and 
it  has  come  back  to  you  here,"  said  Good- 
Sounding-Sky  's  wife. 

"Yes,  and  I  feel  alarmed,"  she  said.  "I  am 
trembling.  There  is  an  apprehension  of  some 
kind  of  evil  hanging  over  me,  and  it  is  connected 
with  that  girl.  If  I  had  not  killed  her  I  know 
I  would  not  feel  so  afraid  in  my  mind  as  I  do 
now." 

"Oh,  never  mind,"  said  one  of  the  women, 


THE  OJIBWAY  307 

"perhaps  we  shall  get  out  of  this  alive  and  get 
back  to  our  wigwams. " 

"I  fervently  hope  we  will,"  returned  Eed- 
Sky-of-the-Morning.  "I  suppose  you  are  not 
afraid  to  die,"  she  said  to  the  women.  "But 
somehow  I  am  not  ready  to  die.  I  guess  I  am 
so  wicked  that  I  shall  never  get  across  the  '  roll 
ing  and  sinking  bridge/  "  Here  she  laughed, 
pretending  to  be  gay ;  but  it  sounded  hollow  and 
unnatural.  "Perhaps  my  soul  will  be  carried 
down  among  the  rapids  and  lost,  and  never  get 
to  the  Villages  of  the  Dead." 

"What  did  you  kill  her  for,  anyway,"  asked 
The  Lynx's  wife,  a  tender-hearted,  compassion 
ate  woman. 

' i  Oh,  I  had  a  great  deal  to  say  about  different 
motives  that  actuated  me;  but  the  real  reason 
was  that  I  could  not  bear  to  let  her  go  out  of 
my  hands  without  killing  her.  Our  men  here 
kill  a  captive  when  they  want  to;  it  is  their 
privilege.  And  I  thought  that  when  she  had 
been  granted  to  me,  when  I  had  gained  her,  that 
I  was  just  as  much  entitled  to  do  it  as  they,  I 
did  sometimes  pity  her,  and  thought  of  letting 
her  go ;  then  again  I  could  not  bear  to  do  it.  So 
at  last  I  killed  her." 

"And  you  wish  now  you  had  not!"  queried 
her  interlocutor. 

"Yes.  The  next  minute  after  she  died  I 
would  have  given  anything  to  have  brought  her 
back  to  life.  It  did  not  give  me  the  satisfaction 
after  it  was  over  that  I  thought  it  would.  I 
suppose  I  just  did  it  because  I  was  wicked.  And 
now  I  somehow  connect  it  with  this  sudden  storm 
—I  do  not  know  why.  I  wish  I  could  get  away 


308  THE  OJIBWAY 

from  that  look  that  was  on  her  face  when  she 
asked  me  to  let  her  go." 

"Do  not  worry  yourself  ahout  it,"  said  Yel 
low  Thunder.  "We  shall  get  out  of  this  alive,  I 
think,  and  then  you  will  not  think  any  more 
about  it." 

So  the  long  day  wore  slowly  away,  and  an 
other  night  came.  They  were  now  more  borne 
down  with  sleep  than  on  the  preceding  night, 
but  they  struggled  bravely  to  keep  in  such  po 
sitions  when  they  did  sleep  as  would  be  least 
liable  to  bring  upon  them  fatal  illness.  They 
tried  to  sleep  crouching  or  sitting,  propped  up 
against  each  other,  rather  than  stretched  full 
length  upon  the  ground.  When  the  increasing 
light  showed  them  that  another  day  had  dawned, 
they  roused  themselves  from  their  nodding  and 
began  to  talk. 

"We  are  badly  enough  off  here,"  said  The 
Lynx's  wife,  who  was  one  who  always  had 
something  encouraging  to  say,  and  who  inspired 
them  with  hope,  "for  we  are  shuddering  with 
cold,  sopping  wet,  and  have  nothing  to  eat.  But 
it  might  be  worse.  What  a  comfort  it  is  to  have 
each  other's  company!  We  would  be  a  good 
deal  worse  off  without  that.  It  seems  to  me  that 
any  calamity  is  more  easily  borne  if  there  are 
others  to  share  it  with  us.  So  for  that  I  feel 
very  thankful.  Oh,  what  a  comfort  I  feel  it  to 
have  you  here!  Not  that  I  wish  you  to  be 
here,"  she  added,  with  a  laugh,  "but  if  I  have  to 
be  here  I  would  be  a  great  deal  worse  off  with 
out  your  presence." 

"Yes,"    observed    Yellow    Thunder's    wife, 


THE  OJIBWAY  309 

"even  if  we  do  have  to  die,  it  takes  off  a  great 
deal  of  the  horror  of  it  that  we  can  die  in  com 
pany.  It  would  be  far  harder  for  one  to  die 
here  alone  and  not  know  if  her  bones  would  ever 
be  found  or  if  her  friends  would  ever  know  what 
had  become  of  her.  As  it  is,  they  will  be  sure  to 
look  for  us,  for  they  know  we  have  come  in  this 
direction. ' ' 

"If  Ogema's  snow-shoes  blow  down,"  said 
her  husband,  ' i  they  will  not  find  us  till  spring ; 
for  on  this  waste  of  snowy  prairie  there  will  be 
nothing  to  show  where  we  are.  But  if  the  snow- 
shoes  have  stood  the  blast  they  will  find  us  very 
soon  after  the  wind  has  subsided  and  the  drift 
ing  snow  ceased,  for  then  they  can  see.  As  it  is 
now,  the  air  is  so  filled  with  flying  snow  that  no 
one  can  see  three  feet. ' ' 

"Would  it  not  be  possible,"  asked  his  wife, 
to  replace  the  snow-shoes  in  an  upright  position 
even  if  they  have  blown  down?" 

"No,"  said  he,  "it  will  be  so  cold  after  this 
blizzard  is  over  that  a  man  going  out  with  his 
clothes  wringing  wet  would  be  frozen  to  death 
before  he  could  feel  around  and  find  those  snow- 
shoes  and  stick  them  up.  You  know  how  bitter 
ly  cold  it  always  turns  after  a  storm  like  this. ' ' 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Ogema,  "that  I 
would  just  as  soon  take  my  chances  and  try  to 
make  for  the  timber  as  to  stay  here  and  chatter 
to  death  under  the  snow. ' ' 

"Don't!"  they  all  clamored  in  a  chorus. 
"In  the  first  place,  you  cannot  see  where  the 
timber  is,  for  no  one  can  see  anything  the  way 
the  snow  is  driving.  You  would  be  just  as  like- 


310  THE  OJIBWAY 

ly  to  go  farther  out  on  the  prairie  if  you  at 
tempted  it,  as  to  go  towards  the  timber;  and 
then  you  would  surely  be  lost.  Then,  even  if  by 
a  miracle  you  did  get  to  the  timber,  you  are  too 
cold  to  make  a  fire.  You  would  have  to  search 
under  the  snow  and  find  pieces  of  dry  wood,  and 
find  birch-bark  somewhere  to  start  your  fire,  or 
make  shavings  of  a  piece  of  dry  wood  with  your 
knife  for  kindlings;  and  long  before  you  could 
get  that  done  you  would  be  frozen  to  death. 
But  with  your  wet  clothes  you  would  not  live  to 
get  as  far  as  the  timber,  even  if  you  could  see 
it.  Do  you  not  know  that  the  instant  you  step 
out  of  this  place  into  the  open  air,  your  clothes 
will  be  solid  sheets  of  ice  encasing  you?  Just 
like  a  man  who  has  broken  through  the  ice  into 
a  river  or  lake— his  clothes  are  as  stiff  as  a 
board  the  minute  after  he  is  dragged  out,  if  it  is 
very  cold  like  this;  and  if  he  does  not  get  to  a 
fire  in  a  very  short  time,  he  dies.  And  there  is 
no  fire  near  you.  No,  our  only  hope  is  in 
being  rescued  by  our  friends.  As  we  are  we 
cannot  save  ourselves. ?  > 

"Do  you  not  remember  Big  Feather  1"  said 
Good-Sounding-Sky  to  Ogema,  "how  he  got 
safely  to  the  timber,  but  died  while  he  was  try 
ing  to  make  a  fire?  Froze  to  death.  That  is 
the  very  time  a  man  is  most  likely  to  expire. 
While  he  is  moving  he  can  keep  the  life  in  him  a 
little,  some  way  perhaps ;  but  when  he  stops  and 
begins  to  fumble  and  try  to  make  a  fire,  his 
hands  are  so  benumbed  that  he  is  not  able  to, 
and  that  is  the  time  he  dies." 

By  this  unanimous  condemnation  of  his  pro- 


THE  OJIBWAY  311 

ject  they  deterred  Ogema  from  attempting  the 
hazardous  feat.  However,  the  idea  was  still 
working  in  his  mind,  although  they  had  shown 
him  the  futility  of  it;  the  certain  death  that 
would  attend  its  attempted  execution. 

The  two  companions,  The-First-Heavens  and 
Traveling-the-Heavens,  had  kept  very  quiet  up 
to  this  time— had  had  very  little  to  say  to  any 
one.  They  now  chose  an  opportunity,  when 
they  thought  all  the  others  of  the  party  were 
napping,  to  hold  a  very  secret  whispered  con 
ference.  They  were  very  careful  to  speak  in 
each  other 's  ears,  and  to  let  no  one  else  hear  a 
word,  and  they  kept  their  eyes  on  the  others  to 
be  sure  that  they  were  asleep. 

"What  is  this?"  asked  The-First-Heavens  of 
his  companion. 

"Yes,  what  is  it!  That  is  the  very  thing  I 
have  been  thinking  ever  since  we  got  caught. ' ' 

"It  seems  that  thing  is  following  us,"  said 
The-First-Heavens. 

'  *  It  seems  it  is, ' '  returned  his  companion.  l  i  I 
thought  that  it  had  blown  over,  and  that  we 
would  never  hear  of  it  again.  But  it  seems 
not." 

'  *  Yes,  it  is  pursuing  us,  sure, ' '  said  The-First- 
Heavens.  "That  was  the  very  first  thing  that 
came  into  my  mind  when  the  storm  came  down 
upon  us.  Did  you  hear  what  Red-sky-of-the- 
morning  said  V '  he  asked. 

"Yes,  she  is  in  it  just  the  same  as  we;  but  not 
so  bad,  for  she  had  a  right  to  do  what  she  did. 
But  I  do  not  think  any  persons  in  the  whole 


312  THE  OJIBWAY 

world  have  got  such  a  thing  hounding  them  as 
we  have." 

"I  wish  that  old  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  been,  I 
do  not  know  where,— for  I  do  not  know  any 
place  bad  enough  to  wish  him  in, — before  he  put 
us  upon  doing  that  thing,"  said  The-First-Hea- 
vens. 

"Yes,  and  it  is  pursuing  us.  This  storm 
shows  it.  We  have  not  seen  the  end  of  it," 
answered  his  companion. 

' '  What  will  the  end  be,  do  you  think  ? ' '  asked 
Travel  ing- the-Heavens. 

"I  do  not  know.  Sometimes  I  think  we  shall 
get  out  of  this  alive  and  sometimes  not.  If  it 
is  bound  to  pursue  us  to  the  end  it  will  surely 
kill  us,"  replied  'The-First-Heavens  despon- 
dingly. 

"Do  you  not  think  this  blizzard  may  be  only  a 
chance?  Do  you  not  think  it  might  just  have 
happened  so  anyway?" 

"No,  I  do  not  think  so.  There  was  something 
supernatural  about  it,  changing  all  in  an  instant 
from  a  bright  sunny  day,  and  a  south  wind,  and 
thawing,  to  this.  It  is  after  us,  certain,"  re 
plied  Traveling-the-Heavens. 

"Do  you  think  the  people  here  have  any  idea 
of  what  brought  it  on?" 

"  No ;  they  do  not  suspect  us  in  the  least.  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  never  told  anybody,  and  we  certainly 
never  did." 

"Then  we  are  the  cause  of  these  innocent 
people  suffering,  and  perhaps  losing  their 
lives?" 

"It  is  certainly  on  our  account,  though  Red- 


THE  OJIBWAY  313 

sky-of-the-morning  has  a  little  share  in  it." 

'  *  And  what  is  going  to  be  the  end  of  it  all ! ' ' 

"I  wish  you  would  tell  me !  For  I  would  like 
to  know.  But  perhaps  we  may  get  out  with  our 
lives,  and  then  we  will  have  surmounted  it.  Or 
perhaps  it  will  kill  us,  and  then  it  will  have 
found  us  indeed;  but  I  hope  not,"  said  Travel- 
ing-the-Heavens. 

"I  suppose  there  is  not  anything  that  we  can 
dot" 

"No,  there  is  nothing  we  can  do  now  but  take 
whatever  comes." 

This  stealthy  conference  over,  both  relapsed 
into  silence ;  and  later  kind  sleep  gave  even  them 
some  minutes'  forgetfulness  of  misery  of  mind 
and  body. 

By  and  by  some  one  began  to  speak,  and  that 
roused  all  the  sleepers. 

Another  train  of  thought  now  started  in 
Good-Sounding-Sky's  mind.  The  wind  was 
still  whistling  overhead,  the  storm  still  at  its 
height,  and  as  there  was  nothing  that  they  could 
do  there  was  abundant  leisure  for  reflection. 

' '  Is  it  not  wonderful, ' '  said  he, '  *  how,  when  we 
are  in  absolute  security  in  this  life,  when  we  are 
in  such  circumstances  that  it  would  seem  noth 
ing  evil  could  happen  to  us ;  and  when  we  think 
we  are  removed  beyond  the  very  possibility  of 
evil,  that  then  is  the  very  time  when  destruction 
comes  upon  us.  Here  we  were,  coming  out  on 
this  hunt.  We  were  laughing  and  merry;  be 
yond  the  reach  of  evil,  as  we  thought.  The 
solid  ground  was  under  our  feet;  plenty  of  food 
was  in  sight  of  us,  there  was  a  clear  sky  and  the 


314  THE  OJIBWAY 

sun  shining.  Then  suddenly  in  a  few  minutes 
we  were  struggling  for  our  lives;  in  a  manner 
and  from  a  cause  that  we  could  never  have 
imagined.  Buried  in  a  way— hiding,  and  with 
a  very  small  chance  of  life.  If  we  had  been  on 
the  water  in  canoes,  or  on  the  ice,  it  would  be 
understandable,  for  the  seams  of  our  canoes 
might  open  and  leave  us  struggling  in  the  water. 
Or  if  we  had  been  on  the  ice  we  might  possibly 
get  on  a  weak  place  and  break  through.  We 
have  known  of  such  things,  and  are  not  sur 
prised  at  them  when  they  happen,  for  we  can 
understand  them.  But  on  the  solid  ground; 
near  our  friends,  only  just  left  them— it  seems 
beyond  belief/' 

"It  is  an  illustration, "  observed  Yellow 
Thunder,  "of  the  truth  of  what  the  old  people 
taught  us  in  their  '  preaching,  or  instructions,' 
when  they  taught  us  about  life.  l  You  are  going 
into  the  thick  jungle/  said  they,  'and  you  can 
not  get  around  it.' 

"It  shows  another  thing,"  answered  Good- 
Sounding-Sky,  "and  that  is  that  we  are  under 
government;  some  one  is  master  over  us.  We 
do  not  have  full  power  over  ourselves.  Now 
look  at  us  here.  We  did  not  any  of  us  wish  to 
get  into  this,  we  did  not  plan  for  it;  on  the  con 
trary,  we  strove  all  we  could  to  do  the  opposite. 
But  some  power  thrusts  it  upon  us,  and  in  spite 
of  all  our  struggles  we  have  to  submit  to  it.  It 
is  plain  that  we  do  not  manage  ourselves.  Some 
Power  manages  us  as  that  Power  sees  fit,  and, 
not  as  we  wish.  We  are  ruled  over,  folks;  we 
are  under  government." 


THE  OJIBWAY  315 

' '  Yes, ' '  said  his  wife, ' '  and  it  is  the  same  way 
all  through  life.  You  may  try  to  lead  one  kind 
of  life,  arid  somehow  you  will  find  yourself  con 
trolled,  and  obliged  to  lead  a  different.  You 
may  try  to  do  something  you  have  set  your 
mind  on,  and  somehow  you  cannot  do  it;  you 
will  have  to  do  smething  else. ' ' 

All  this  time  the  wind  was  blowing  fiercely 
over  their  heads,  and  the  faint  light  was  strug 
gling  down  through  the  window  of  the  snow 
overhead. 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Ogema,  "that  the 
buffalo  are  a  good  deal  more  favorites  of  the 
Power  you  speak  of  than  we ;  or  else  they  have  a 
good  deal  more  sense.  We  came  out  to  kill 
them,  and  now  here  we  are,  fearing  for  our  lives, 
huddling  here  in  a  group  in  terror— we,  the  ones 
who  came  put  to  kill,  only  asking  that  we  be  al 
lowed  to  live;  whilst  they,  clad  in  their  warm, 
thick  blankets  of  .fur,  do  not  mind  this  at  all. 
Perhaps  they  are  laughing  at  us  somewhere. 
They  would  be  if  they  knew  enough  to  laugh. 
Well,  it  is  a  good  thing  that  they  do  not  know 
enough  to  come  here  in  a  gallop  and  trample  us 
to  death  as  we  lie  here  cowering  in  this  hole." 

"If  they  only  knew  enough  to  do  that,"  said 
Yellow  Thunder,  "they  would  save  themselves, 
from  all  fear  of  being  killed  by  us  in  future ;  and 
they  would  make  needless  all  our  consultations 
about  whether  to  strike  out  now  or  wait  until  the 
storm  is  over." 

"I  do  so  much  want  to  see  my  wigwam  and 
my  friends  once  more,"  said  Good-Sounding- 
Sky  's  wife.  "If  I  could  just  bid  them  good-by 


316  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  kiss  them  once  more,  then  I  would  be  con 
tent  to  die.  But  it  is  so  hard  to  die  here  without 
seeing  them. ' ' 

It  was  now  verging  toward  the  third  night 
they  had  spent  there.  They  had  had  very  little 
sleep,  and  had  been  miserably  cold;  and  only 
the  one  partridge  divided  among  them.  For 
drink  they  had  eaten  snow  or  drunk  a  little 
water  wrung  out  of  their  blankets.  They  now 
began  to  talk  of  dying,  and  to  think  about  it,  for 
they  felt  that  if  relief  did  not  come  in  someway 
before  another  day  expired  they  were  indeed 
lost. 

To  add  to  their  misery,  the  wife  of  The  Lynx, 
who  had  been  in  a  sense  their  preserver  by 
suggesting  and  pointing  out  the  place  where 
they  had  taken  refuge,  began  to  be  taken  with 
the  pains  of  labor,  and  was  delivered  of  a  child. 
The  child  died,  but  she  lived. 

The  night,  the  third  that  they  had  spent  there, 
had  now  closed  in.  All  was  perfectly  dark  and 
dismal,  and  their  spirits  were  down  to  the  lowest 
ebb.  So  the  long  night  of  that  northern  latitude 
wore  away.  There  were  noddings  and  starting 
up  again,  short  naps  and  awaking  out  of  them. 
There  were  incoherent  visions  of  a  warm  wig 
wam,  of  fire  and  food,  of  loved  friends;  then 
with  the  awaking  came  the  cheerless  misery,  of 
their  snowy  dungeon.  One  gleam  of  satisfac 
tion,  however,  they  had.  The  storm  was  abat 
ing  its  fury.  It  had  evidently  blown  itself  out. 
It  was  almost  three  days  since  it  had  com 
menced,  and  they  knew  that  it  never  lasted  be 
yond  the  third  day.  Therefore  when  the  fourth 


THE  OJIBWAY  317 

day  dawned  cold  and  cheerless,  and  the  light 
struggled  through  the  snowy  sheet  above,  they 
realized  that  the  day  of  release  or  the  day  of 
death  had  come.  They  all  knew  that  they  had 
not  strength  to  live  through  another  day,  if  they 
were  not  rescued. 

The-First-Heavens  now  found  an  opportunity 
to  speak  privately  to  his  companion.  "By  the 
looks  of  things  now  we  are  about  to  die,"  he 
said.  "We  are  already  extremely  weak,  and  it 
needs  only  the  least  little  thing  more  to  push  us 
over.  Do  you  not  think  we  had  better  tell  it  be 
fore  we  die?" 

"No,  it  would  do  no  good  to  tell  it,"  answered 
his  companion.  Besides,  we  may  live  after  all, 
and  if  we  do  it  would  be  a  terrible  thing  to  have 
it  known.  Better  hold  on  as  you  are. ' ' 

1  '  I  think  I  would  feel  more  comfortable  to  die 
if  I  am  to  die, ' '  said  The-First-Heavens. 

"No!  keep  up;  don't  say  anything,"  returned 
Traveling-the-Heavens.  And  his  stronger 
will  prevailed  and  kept  his  companion  silent. 

They  now  realized  by  the  increased  bright 
ness,  that  the  sun  for  the  first  time  since  their 
imprisonment  was  shining.  It  gave  them  com 
fort  and  hope,  and  raised  their  spirits,  though  at 
the  same  time  they  were  made  aware  by  their 
feelings  that,  as  usual  after  a  storm  the  degree 
of  cold  was  now  greater  than  it  had  been. 

The  sight  of  the  bright  rays  of  the  morning 
sun  struggling  through  seemed  to  have  an  in 
toxicating  effect  upon  Ogema.  He  became  more 
restless  and  frequently  expressed  his  intention 


318  THE  OJIBWAY 

of  breaking  through  the  enveloping  crust  and 
running  for  the  timber. 

"I  can  certainly  see  the  line  of  timber  now," 
he  said,  "for  the  sky  is  no  doubt  perfectly  clear; 
not  only  that,  but  I  believe  I  can  see  the  smoke 
in  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where  our  friends  are, 
and  which  they  will  certainly  raise  so  that  we 
may  know  just  where  they  are  and  where  we  are 
to  run  to.  I  have  only  to  take  one  good  run, 
and  I  shall  be  safe  by  the  wigwam  fire.  Not 
only  so,  but  I  can  tell  them  where  you  are,  and 
they  can  follow  my  tracks  and  come  and  rescue 
you  if  you  do  not  think  fit  to  follow  my  ox- 
ample.  " 

"Don't!"  they  all  said,  "don't  attempt  it. 
It  is  true  you  can  now  see  the  woods,  and  very 
likely  see  the  smoke  of  their  fire ;  but  you  are  so 
weak  from  three  days'  want  of  food,  and  it  is 
so  cold,  and  your  clothes  are  so  wet,  that  you  will 
be  frozen  stiff  before  you  get  a  gun-shot  away. 
Stay  here  with  us.  Our  friends  will  certainly 
start  out  and  look  for  us,  now  that  the  storm  is 
over  and  they  can  see ;  and  we  shall  be  rescued. 
Stay  here  with  us  and  we  shall  all  be  saved !  Be 
sides,  if  you  go  and  break  through  this  crust  of 
snow  which  is  now  over  us,  and  which  gives  us 
what  we  may  call  some  little  warmth  by  keeping 
in  the  warmth  of  our  breaths  and  our  bodies,  you 
will  let  in  the  cold  air  on  us,  and  it  may  be  that 
in  consequence  we  shall  all  freeze  right  here 
where  we  are. ' ' 

' '  I  have  been  against  the  Sioux  many  times, ' ' 
the  old  warrior  answered,  "and  have  had  the 
bullets  and  the  arrows  flying  all  about  me,  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  319 

some  of  them  sticking  in  me;  and  have  looked 
on  the  tomahawks  brandished  over  my  head 
about  to  descend  on  me,  and  I  never  blenched— 
and  I  will  not  now !  I  have  stayed  long  enough 
in  this  hole,  and  I  shall  stay  no  longer. ' '  With 
that  he  made  a  violent  struggle,  and  leaped  and 
got  outside ;  but  had  hardly  gotten  a  few  yards 
from  the  edge  when  the  intense  cold,  that  had  in 
stantly  frozen  stiff  his  dripping  garments,  over 
powered  him,  and  the  hero  of  many  a  hard- 
fought  battle  lay  there  stark  and  dead.  The  de 
gree  of  cold  was  what  white  people  would  call 
forty  below  zero. 

"Close  up  the  hole  that  he  has  made,"  said 
The  Lynx's  wife,  " before  the  cold  comes  in  and 
kills  us  all."  Whereupon  some  of  the  men  did 
so,  stopping  it  up  with  snow  and  restoring  it  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  its  former  condition. 

All  now  sat  in  silence,  knowing  that  the  ques 
tion  of  death  or  life  would  very  soon  be  decided. 
At  length,  after  what  seemed  to  them  a  long, 
long  time,  human  voices— Oh,  how  blessed  they 
seemed— sounded  outside,  and  they  were  saved ! 
Their  friends,  as  soon  as  the  wind  died  down 
and  the  snow  ceased  drifting,  enabling  them  to 
see,  had  gone  out,  anxiously  looking  for  them; 
and  at  last  one  caught  sight  of  Ogema's  snow 
shoes.  Thither  then  they  hastened  with  ponies, 
improvised  sleighs,  all  the  furs  and  blankets 
they  could  muster,  and  every  appliance  they 
could  think  of  for  keeping  the  perishing  alive. 
They  were  hastily  pulled  out  from  their  living 
grave,  instantly  wrapped  up  in  blankets  and 
buffalo  robes,  and  driven  as  fast  as  their  ponies 


320  THE  OJIBWAY 

could  be  urged  to  the  edge  of  the  timber,  where 
great  fires  were  made  and  hot  drinks  poured 
down  them,  as,  enveloped  in  many  wrappings, 
they  were  propped  up  between  the  fires.  Soon 
they  began  to  revive,  and  all  lived.  The  Lynx, 
only,  was  somehow  partially  paralyzed,  in  his 
lower  limbs,  from  the  effects  of  the  long-con 
tinued  cold;  and  to  his  dying  day  had  to 
walk  in  snow,  or  wet,  or  slush  on  his  knees.  His 
feet  and  legs  remained  on,  but  they  were  dead, 
useless.  Sometimes  he  was  seen,  when  he  was 
crossing  some  portage,  and  when  he  thought 
no  one  was  watching  him,  slowly  and  painfully 
endeavoring  to  get  once  more  upon  his  feet ;  up 
on  which,  having  taken  a  few  steps,  as  if  in  ex 
ultation  of  being  once  more  a  man,  he  again  had 
to  fall  upon  his  knees.  His  faithful  wife,  the 
preserver  of  the  party,  lived  along  with  him 
side  by  side,  in  perfect  health.  But  neither  of 
them  ever  forgot  the  three  days  and  nights  un 
der  the  snow.  As  for  Ogema,  his  frozen  body 
rested  in  the  forks  of  a  tree  outside  the  village, 
free  from  the  decaying  touch  of  nature,  until  the 
warm  suns  of  spring  shone  upon  it. 

The-First-Heavens  and  Traveling-the-Hea- 
vens  met  some  time  after  this.  "Well,"  said 
the  former,  "we  lived  through  it." 

"Yes,"  returned  the  other,  "that  storm  was 
only  a  chance  after  all.  We  were  scared  though 
a'bout  that  thing.  But  we  shall  never  hear  any 
thing  more  of  it." 

"I  think  so  too,"  said  The-First-Heavens. 
"I  believe  it  will  never  rise  up  against  us  again. 
But  we  got  a  fearful  fright,  didn't  we?" 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

"HONOR  THY  FATHER  AND  THY  MOTHER." 

Sha-bosh-kunk  had  in  his  lodge  his  wife, 
children,  and  mother-in-law,  and  in  addition 
his  aged  mother,  Zobundaa  ( She-is-greatly- 
pleased-on-account-of-something-nice-being-put- 
into-her-dish).  She  was  a  very  industrious  old 
woman,  always  trying  to  do  something  useful, 
and  she  was  always  cheerful  and  pleasant.  If 
any  one  was  in  distress  of  any  kind,  bodily  or 
mental,  she  was  the  one  they  naturally  went  to ; 
and  she  had  the  faculty  somehow  of  giving  help 
and  consolation.  She  could  either  find  a  way 
out  of  the  difficulty  for  them,  or  if  the  matter 
had  to  be  borne  she  could  point  out  compensa 
tions  which  lightened  the  burden  very  much. 
She  had  suffered  a  great  deal  in  the  course  of 
her  long  life;  both  mental  anguish  and  bodily 
suffering;  and  her  suffering  had  made  her  kind. 
It  had  also  filled  her  with  sympathy  for  those 
who  suffer,  for  knowing  their  feelings  by  exper 
ience,  she  could  enter  into  them.  Instead  of  the 
trials  of  her  past  life  having  made  her  hard, 
they  had  softened  and  mellowed  her.  It  is  true 
also  that  long  trials  and  sufferings,  meekly 
borne,  had  given  her  wisdom.  Sha-bosh-kunk 
was  her  sole  remaining  child,  all  the  others  hav 
ing  died  or  been  killed  before  attaining  his  age. 
Her  husband  had  long  been  dead. 


322  THE  OJIBWAY 

Sha-bosh-kunk  had  for  some  time  been  medi 
tating  something  concerning  her,  and  at  last  it 
came  out.  They  two  were  alone  in  the  lodge, 
the  others  having  gone  somewhere. 

"Mother,"  he  said,  "I  have  been  thinking 
about  you  for  some  time.  I  have  been  turning 
over  in  my  mind  what  I  see  you  to  be ;  and  what 
I  see  you  becoming.  Mother,  you  are  very 
old." 

"Yes,  my  son,  I  know  that  I  am  old;  but  not 
so  very  old.  There  are  a  great  many  who  are 
far  older  than  I. " 

"Mother,  you  are  old,  and  I  see  a  change  com 
ing  over  you.  To  be  frank  with  you,  I  am 
afraid  to  sleep  in  the  same  lodge  with  you. ' ' 

"And  why  should  my  son  be  afraid  to  sleep 
in  the  same  lodge  with  his  good  old  mother? 
Did  you  not  sleep  in  my  bosom  when  you  were  a 
little  baby?  You  were  not  afraid  of  me  then. 
And  have  you  not  slept  in  the  same  lodge  with 
me  ever  since,  all  our  lives'?  Have  we  not  al 
ways  been  one  family?" 

"Yes,  mother;  I  have  supported  you,  as  you 
say,  in  my  lodge  all  our  lives,  but  now  I  begin  to 
be  afraid  of  you." 

"As  for  the  supporting,  my  son,  you  know 
that  I  have  always  made  my  own  living  and 
more,  the  same  as  all  the  Ojibway  women.  You 
know  I  have  not  only  supported  myself,  but 
others.  Have  I  not  caught  fish  enough  for  the 
whole  family,  and  gathered  wild  rice  for  my 
son,  and  made  maple  sugar?  It  does  not  become 
me  to  boast,  but  I  think  I  have  borne  the  reputa 
tion  of  having  been  one  of  the  most  industrious 


THE  OJIBWAY  323 

and  capable  of  all  the  0  jib  way  women.  I  am 
sure  I  never  saw  one  who  could  provide  more 
food  for  the  family  than  I." 

"Yes,  mother;  but  that  is  all  past  and  gone, 
and  you  are  different  now.  What  is  the  use  of 
going  back  to  those  old  times  that  are  long  past? 
It  is  about  things  as  they  are  now  that  we  have 
to  decide.  What  you  were  able  to  do  long  ago 
won't  support  us,  nor  bring  us  food  now." 

And  why,  my  son,  should  you  be  afraid  of  me 
now  ?  Why  should  you  be  afraid  to  sleep  in  the 
same  lodge  with  me,  as  we  have  done  all  our 
lives?" 

"Mother,  I  will  tell  you  frankly.  I  see  signs 
that  you  are  about  to  turn  into  a  Windigo  (a 
man-eating-witch) ;  and  that  is  why  I  am  afraid 
to  sleep  in  the  same  lodge  with  you." 

"0  my  son,  my  son,  why  should  you  think  of 
such  a  thing  of  me  ?  Of  me  who  have  loved  you 
all  my  life.  How  could  I  think  of  doing  such  a 
thing  to  my  son!  No,  my  son,  do  not  think  it.  I 
have  never  in  my  life  felt  the  least  impulse  of 
wishing  to  eat  any  one — least  of  all  my  son. 
How  I  am  shocked  that  you  should  for  a  moment 
think  such  a  thing  of  me ! '  ' 

"Do  you  not  know,  mother,  that  there  have 
been  such  things  as  man-eating-witches  among 
The  People?  Have  you  not  heard  of  such 
or  seen  them?" 

"I  have  heard  of  such,  my  son,  and  have 
heard  the  Indians  say  so,  but  I  never  believed  it. 
There  may  have  been  such  things  off  at  a  dis 
tance—the  Indians  say  there  have  been,  so  I 
suppose  it  must  have  been  so.  But  those  whom 


324  THE  OJIBWAY 

they  said  were  witches  who  were  near  me,  and 
whom  I  knew,  I  always  took  to  be  harmless  peo 
ple,  and  that  there  was  no  truth  in  what  was 
said  of  them.  I  always  thought  that  because 
somebody  had  a  spite  against  them,  and  wished 
to  put  them  out  of  the  way,  therefore  they  said 
that  they  were  witches. ' ' 

"Now  as  for  that  matter,  mother,  we  know 
perfectly  well  that  there  have  always  been 
witches  among  the  Indians  every  once  in  a  while. 
Do  we  not  know  that  the  old  Indians  of  long  ago 
were  wise?  That  they  would  make  no  mistake? 
And  has  it  not  come  down  to  us  from  them  from 
time  immemorial  that  there  are  witches? 
Therefore  it  must  be  so.  All  the  people  could 
not  have  been  mistaken,  and  they  have  always 
believed  that. ' ' 

1 1  Well,  my  son,  you  may  say  what  you  please, 
but  I  know  that  I  have  never  felt  the  least  symp 
tom  of  being  about  to  turn  into  a  witch;  and  I 
would  know  it  before  any  one  else  could,  bo- 
cause  I  know  myself  better  than  any  one  else 
can.  And  you  need  not  be  afraid  of  sleeping  in 
the  same  lodge  with  me  on  that  account. 
Would  I  not  give  my  life  for  my  son,  as  I  have 
many  a  time  in  the  past  come  near  doing,  and 
been  always  ready  to  do,  rather  than  try  to  eat 
him  as  a  witch  ?  And  if  I  felt  any  such  impulses 
coming  over  me,  would  I  not  be  the  first  to  go  to 
you  and  ask  you  to  knock  me  on  the  head  or 
throw  me  into  the  lake?  O  my  son!  how  inex 
pressibly  grieved  T  nm  that  you  should  over 
think  such  a  tiling  of  your  old  mother,  who  loves 
you." 


THE  OJIBWAY  325 

"Mother,  I  tell  you  again  that  I  am  afraid  of 
you;  and  afraid  of  you  becoming  a  witch. 
Mother,  you  are  old;  and  to  speak  the  truth 
right  out  to  you,  it  is  about  time  for  you  to  die. 
Do  you  not  know  that  old  and  useless  people  are 
sometimes  exposed  to  die?" 

"Yes,  my  son,  I  know  that,  and  I  always  felt 
very  sorry  for  the  old  people.  I  always  thought 
it  would  have  been  far  better  to  have  let  them 
live  out  their  little  time.  They  would  not  have 
lived  much  longer  anyway.  And  sometimes 
when  a  man  had  exposed  his  helpless  old  father 
or  mother  to  die,  I  would  secretly,  in  the  night 
time,  carry  them  out  a  little  food  and  take  my 
packing  strap  and  pack  them  out  more  wood  so 
they  would  not  freeze.  I  tried  to  keep  them 
alive  a  little  longer,  I  felt  so  sorry  for  them. 
And  when  I  got  out  there  and  saw  the  old  man 
or  woman  helpless  and  unable  to  crawl  away, 
and  heard  them  say,  'It  was  my  son  who  did  this 
to  me, '  oh,  I  felt  so  sorry  that  I  just  stood  there 
and  cried !  And  if  there  had  been  any  way  that 
I  could  have  saved  that  old  man  or  woman  I 
would  have  done  it.  But  I  knew  I  could  only 
keep  them  alive  for  a  little  while,  because  the 
one  to  whom  the  old  man  or  woman  belonged 
was  too  strong  for  me,  who  was  only  a  weak 
woman;  and  they  were  too  determined  to  put 
the  old  folks  away  for  me  to  overcome  them. 

"And  do  you  know,  I  never  could  think  well 
afterwards  of  the  person  who  did  that.  He 
might  be  a  great  chief  and  have  a  tremendous 
reputation,  and  everybody  be  praising  him;  but 
for  all  that,  whenever  I  met  him  I  would  think 
of  that  old  father  or  mother  whom  be  had 


326  THE  OJIBWAY 

abandoned,  and  whom  I  had  seen  there.  And 
when  I  met  such  a  person  in  the  path  I  would 
try  to  look  the  other  way  and  not  see  him.  I 
did  not  want  to  give  such  person  the  customary 
salutation,  or  to  have  any  conversation  with 
him.  And,"  she  added,  with  rising  alarm  in 
her  voice,  "surely  my  son  does  not  think  of 
doing  that  to  me?" 

"Yes,  mother,"  said  he,  "that  is  just  what  I 
mean ;  and  I  thought  it  best  to  tell  you  of  it  so 
you  might  prepare  yourself.  I  am  a  plain,  out 
spoken  man,  because  I  wish  to  be  honest  and 
above  board  with  everybody.  Many  a  son 
would  have  said  nothing  to  you  till  he  was  just 
ready  to  do  it  to  you ;  but  I  am  a  merciful  man, 
have  been  all  my  life,  and  so  I  talk  it  over  with 
you  beforehand,  that  it  may  not  come  upon  you 
suddenly,  but  that  you  may  go  to  it  with  your 
own  consent." 

'  '  And  that  was  what  you  meant  by  all  that  talk 
about  your  fear  of  my  turning  into  a  witch! 
That  was  the  way  you  led  up  to  it.  I  did  not  un 
derstand  you  at  first,  but  now  it  is  all  plain.  Oh, 
oh,  oh!"  here  she  wept  aloud.  "Oh!  that  I 
should  have  lived  to  see  the  day  when  my  own 
son  would  say  that  to  me!  I  feel  as  if  I  were 
half  dead  already  from  hearing  such  a  word 
from  my  son,  and  that  only  a  very  little  more 
would  be  needed  to  kill  me  entirely." 

"Well,  mother,  you  ought  to  have  expected  it, 
and  it  was  your  fault  if  you  did  not.  And  now 
instead  of  crying  about  it  and  bewailing  what 
must  take  place,  it  would  be  more  sensible  if  you 
would  take  it  calmly,  and  just  turn  your  mind 


THE  OJIBWAY  327 

to  considering  how  it  ought  to  be  done  and  how 
yon  would  prefer  to  have  it  done.  There  is  the 
way;  to  let  you  make  your  bed  outside  in  the 
snow,  without  a  fire,  till  you  freeze. ' ' 

1 1 0  my  son,  how  can  you  talk  to  me  like  that ! 
It  makes  my  heart  stand  still  to  hear  you  talk 
like  that!  Now,  my  son,  look  here.  You  say, 
I'm  useless,  and  therefore  I  must  be  put  out  of 
the  way.  My  son,  I'm  not  useless.  0  my  son, 
let  me  live !  I  can  do  a  great  deal  for  you.  I'm 
never  idle  a  minute  when  I'm  awake.  It  is  true 
I'm  not  able  to  walk  about  and  do  that  kind  of 
work,  but  see  this  great  ball  of  rope  that  I  have 
made.  I  make  it  out  of  the  tough  inner  bark  of 
the  trees.  I  tie  piece  to  piece  till  I  have  made 
this  great  roll.  Ask  your  wife  and  she  will  tell 
you  that  I  am  never  idle.  She  sells  that  rope 
that  I  make  to  other  Indians,  and  gets  a  great 
deal  for  it.  She  exchanges  it  for  venison  and 
for  food  of  all  kinds,  and  all  the  family  live  on 
it.  And  then  I  can  do  a  good  deal  about  mend 
ing  the  nets  and  cleaning  them.  There  is  a 
great  deal  that  I  can  do  here,  and  there  is  one 
thing  that  I  do  that  I  love  more  than  all,  and 
that  is  taking  care  of  my  little  grandchildren— 
your  children.  The  little  things  love  grand 
mother  and  I  love  them.  And  it  seems  to  me 
sometimes  as  if  it  were  you  who  was  back  in  my 
arms  again  when  I'm  holding  one  of  them.  I 
relieve  your  wife  a  great  deal  by  tending  the 
children  when  she  is  out  drawing  her  nets  or 
bringing  wood,  or  away  visiting.  I  am  very 
useful  in  many  ways.  I  am  not  a  burden. 
Then  why  is  it  necessary  that  I  should  die!" 


328  THE  OJIBWAY 

"I  will  tell  you,  my  mother,  and  make  it  so 
plain  to  you  that  if  you  are  reasonable  you  must 
see  it.  You  know  that  I  am  a  very  great  man, 
and  have  a  great  reputation  ?" 

"Yes,  my  son,  I  hear  that  you  have  a  great 
reputation. ' ' 

"Having  then  a  great  reputation,  I  am  much 
visited.  People  come  to  see  me  from  Leech 
Lake,  and  from  Mille  Lacs,  because  my  reputa 
tion  has  reached  far.  And  when  they  come  to 
visit  me  I  ought  to  take  them  into  the  lodge  or 
they  will  not  think  much  of  me.  Already  there 
are  my  wife  and  children  and  my  mother-in-law, 
and  with  you  in  it  there  is  no  room  for  visitors. 
You  take  up  room  that  belongs  to  distinguished 
people  who  come  here,  and  there 's  no  sense  in  it. 
I  need  your  room,  and  that  is  one  reason  why  I 
must  put  you  out  of  the  way. ' ' 

i  '  0  my  son,  do  not  talk  in  that  dreadful  way. 
You  know  that  it  would  take  you  or  your  wife 
only  a  very  few  days'  work  to  enlarge  the  wig 
wam,  and  then  there  would  be  room  for  all.  All 
you  have  to  do  is  to  add  on  to  one  end  and  make 
it  longer.  I  used  to  be  able  to  build  a  whole  wig 
wam  in  a  day  when  I  was  in  my  prime. ' ? 

i  i  That  is  all  very  well,  mother,  for  you  to  say 
so,  as  I  suppose  it  is  natural  for  you  to  wish  to 
live;  but  I  do  not  feel  inclined  to  do  so." 

"Or,"  said  she,  "whenever  there  are  visitors 
I  will  go  outside  and  sleep,  if  it  is  summer.  I  can 
sleep  just  as  well  outside  as  in,  if  it  is  not  very 
cold.  And  if  it  is  very  cold  I  think  that  some  of 
the  Indians  would  have  pity  on  me,  and  take  me 
in,  for  I  know  them  all  and  have  been  very  kind 


THE  OJIBWAY  329 

to  many  of  them  in  the  past.  I  think  they  would 
have  mercy  on  me  now,  as  I  many  a  time  showed 
mercy  to  them.  So  that  the  matter  of  room  and 
visitors  is  provided  for. ' ' 

1  '  Well,  even  if  what  you  say  were  so,  here  is 
another  matter.  You  have  to  be  clothed.  I 
have  my  wife  and  children  and  mother-in-law  to 
clothe,  and  I  can  not  be  bothered  with  you  any 
longer. ' ' 

i  '  I  can  show  you,  my  son,  that  I  am  no  burden 
to  you  in  the  matter  of  clothes.  Do  you  not 
know  that  the  Government  for  some  years  past 
has  given  us  every  year  a  blanket  apiece— all  of 
us  grown  people— as  the  price  of  the  tract  of 
land  we  sold  to  it?  And  with  that  blanket  it 
gives  us  a  few  yards  of  calico,  enough  to  make 
us  a  dress ;  and  some  cotton  cloth  for  leggings  I 
That  blanket  does  me  to  sleep  in  the  whole  year 
till  the  next  blanket  is  given,  and  to  wear  by  day. 
And  I  make  the  calico  and  the  white  cotton  cloth 
do  also,  although  I  know  I  am  ragged  and  dirty ; 
but  I  can  not  help  being  so.  While  I  was  a  young 
woman  and  vigorous,  I  got  myself  all  I  wanted 
by  my  work,  and  you,  too,  my  son;  and  now  in 
the  last  few  years,  since  I  have  become  infirm,  I 
can't  remember  your  having  furnished  me  with 
any  clothing— for  as  I  have  said,  I  have  striven 
to  get  along  with  what  the  Government  gives 
me. 

"And  sometimes  I  have  got  a  deerskin  shirt 
or  a  deerskin  coat  and  leggings  from  some  of 
the  Indians  for  making  nets  for  them,  or  for  re 
pairing  them,  for  I  am  still  able  to  make  nets 
and  repair  them.  So  in  these  ways,  by  the 


330  THE  OJIBWAY 

blanket  the  Government  gives  me;  and  by  the 
work  I  do  for  the  Indians,  I  manage  to  get  along 
as  far  as  clothes  are  concerned.  Now  just  think 
and  tell  me  one  time  when  yon  have  given  me 
any  clothing.  I  am  sure  there  is  no  such  time. 
So  I'm  no  burden  to  you  in  that  way,  and  never 
have  been." 

"It  may  be  that  what  you  say  is  so— I  can  not 
remember  from  one  time  to  another;  but  I  will 
tell  you  one  thing  that  you  know  I  have  to  do  for 
you,  that  is  a  heavy  drain,  and  that  I  will  stand 
no  longer,  and  that  is  to  feed  you." 

* '  You  know,  my  son,  that  about  all  I  get  to  eat 
is  fish,  and  that  fish  are  so  plenty  that  there  are 
more  than  can  be  consumed.  You  know  that 
whenever  you  and  the  others  happen  to  have 
tea  or  meat,  or  anything  good,  I  do  not  get  any 
of  it;  and  indeed  I  do  not  expect  it,  because 
I  am  old.  I  smell  the  delicious  smell  of  the 
frying  meat,  and  it  works  powerfully  upon  me, 
and  makes  my  mouth  water  to  taste  it,  but  that 
I  know  I  never  must,  because  I  am  old !  So  fish— 
the  commonest  and  most  worthless  food— is  my 
living.  I  do  not  even  have  salt.  And  as  for 
fish,  you  know  very  well  that  all  summer  long, 
and  all  the  spring  and  the  fall,  your  wife  throws 
away  a  considerable  quantity  of  fish  every  time 
she  draws  her  nets,  because  there  are  more  than 
can  be  consumed.  Only  in  winter  is  there  some 
times  a  scarcity  of  fish,  and  that  is  because  no 
one  took  pains  to  catch  a  sufficient  quantity  in 
their  nets,  for  the  winter's  use  jvst  before  it 
froze  up.  So  the  little  fish  that  keeps  me  alive 


THE  OJIBWAY  331 

is  no  drawback  to  anybody.  Fish  are  as  plenty 
as  water. " 

"For  all  that,  mother,  you  are  a  burden.  In 
many  ways  you  are.  Your  room,  although  you 
deny  it;  and  your  clothing,  although  you  deny 
that;  and  your  food  most  of  all.  No  one  can 
live  without  food  and  a  good  deal  of  it.  We 
have  wild  rice  sometimes,  and  you  get  some  of 
it,  yet  you  never  make  any  wild  rice.  You  can 
not." 

1 '  Then,  if  it  is  the  food  that  weighs  so  much 
with  you,  I  will  be  satisfied  with  the  fish  skins 
and  the  fins  and  the  tails,  and  the  potato  skins 
and  the  other  things  that  you  would  throw  to  the 
dogs.  I  can  sustain  life  on  them  well  enough, 
and  then  I  will  be  no  burden  to  you,  my  son.  0, 
do  not  kill  me,  and  I  will  be  perfectly  satisfied 
with  what  you  would  throw  to  the  dogs ! ' ' 

"And  do  you  not  know  that  the  dogs  need  to 
be  fed  ?  Do  you  not  know  that  they  are  very  use 
ful?  That  we  harness  them  to  sleds  in  winter, 
and  that  they  find  game  for  us  which  we  could 
not  find  without  them,  and  are  useful  to  us  in 
many  ways  ?  But  you  are  of  no  use  at  all ! " 

Here  the  old  woman  began  to  cry  and  sob  bit 
terly.  "He  is  not  willing  to  allow  me  even  a 
share  of  that  which  is  thrown  to  the  dogs,"  she 
said,  "because  he  is  determined  to  kill  me!  0 
that  I  should  have  lived  to  hear  my  son  tell  me 
that  he  was  not  willing  that  I  should  have  a 
share  of  even  the  dogs'  food.  Oh,  oh,  oh!" 
Here  she  burst  out  again  in  loud  and  bitter 
weeping. 

"  I  do  not  see  what  use  there  is  in  your  taking 


332  THE  OJIBWAY 

on  so,"  he  said,  "and  making  such  a  hullabaloo. 
I  should  think  you  would  like  to  go  and  see  the 
old  people  whom  you  knew  in  your  youth.  You 
are  miserable  and  unhappy  now,  and  it  ought  to 
be  a  relief  to  you  to  go  and  see  them.  Those 
whom  you  grew  up  with  are  nearly  all  dead 
now.  You  will  find  them  all  there  before  you  in 
the  Villages  of  the  Dead.  They  will  be  glad  to 
see  you.  They  say  they  have  plenty  there,  and 
dance  all  the  time." 

"I  shall  see  them  soon  enough,  my  son.  I 
do  not  wish  to  go  and  see  them  before  my  time." 

"But  I  should  think  that  being  as  miserable 
as  you  are,  poor  and  old,  and  in  the  way  of 
everybody,  you  would  be  glad  to  die  and  go  to 
the  next  life." 

"My  son,  I  dread  to  die.  I  have  a  horror  of 
it.  When  I  was  young  I  did  not  care.  It 
seemed  to  me  sometimes  that  I  would  as  soon  the 
Sioux  would  have  killed  me  as  not,  but  for  the 
little  children  I  would  have  left  in  poverty.  But 
the  nearer  I  approach  death,  the  more  I  dread 
it.  The  solemnity  of  life  grows  on  me  as  I  get 
farther  into  it.  I  have  been  a  good-living 
woman  all  my  life,  but  somehow  I  am  not  ready 
to  die.  There  is  something  wanting.  There 
fore  I  am  distracted  when  you  tell  me  that  you 
are  about  to  push  me  over  the  precipice  before 
I  am  ready  to  go." 

"But  do  you  not  know  that  you  have  to  go 
anyway,  and  before  long,  at  your  age ;  and  what 
difference  does  it  make  whether  you  go  now  or  a 
few  years  later?" 

* '  It  does  not  seem  so  hard  when  I  come  to  it  in 


THE  OJIBWAY  333 

the  way  of  nature,  as  to  be  violently  thrust  into 
it.  Perhaps  my  faculties  may  be  benumbed  by 
sickness,  so  that  I  shall  not  dread  it,  or  perhaps 
I  shall  be  unconscious  and  pass  away  in  that 
state  and  I  shall  die  without  knowing  it.  I  have 
seen  many  who  were  long  sick,  and  somehow 
their  fear  of  death  seemed  to  have  passed  away 
with  their  long  sickness ;  and  I  hope  it  will  be  so 
with  me.  But  to  die  against  my  will,  and  before 
my  time;  to  be  dragged  toward  it  when  I  am 
struggling  with  all  my  might,  backing,  trying  to 
go  the  other  way!  Oh,  that  is  inexpressibly 
dreadful  to  me !  I  almost  die  to  think  of  it.  The 
sweat  stands  out  all  over  me  when  I  think  of  it. 
The  other  I  can  endure;  that  is,  to  meet  death 
when  it  approaches  me  slowly  and  in  the  way  of 
nature;  but  this  overpowers  me  with  horror. 
All  the  other  horrors  of  life  are  swallowed  up  in 
this,  and  then  do  not  half  fill  it,  it  is  so  vast  a 
horror.  Therefore,  my  son,  I  ask  you  to  let  me 
live.  Do  not  push  your  old  mother,  shrinking 
and  holding  back  and  shrieking  in  agony,  over 
this  brink." 

' '  That  is  all  very  well  for  you  to  talk  in  that 
way.  I  suppose  it  is  natural.  But  let  me  tell 
you  this.  I  am  a  man  of  principle.  I  go  by  law 
and  by  rule.  The  principle  and  the  law  is 'that 
it  is  a  good  thing  and  is  right  and  proper  to  put 
old  people  out  of  the  way  when  they  have  be 
come  useless  and  are  in  people 's  way.  I  believe 
in  it,  and  I  am  not  going  to  be  turned,  by  the  cry 
ing  and  beseeching  of  an  old  woman,  from  doing 
so.  I  suppose  all  of  them  cry  and  take  on  in  just 
the  way  you  are  doing  when  they  come  to  it." 


334  THE  OJIBWAY 

"Then  are  you  really  going  to  put  me  out  of 
the  way?" 

"I  certainly  am.  I  have  said  I  would  do  so, 
and  I  will  not  draw  back  from  what  I  have  once 
resolved  on.  There  are  some  of  those  irresolute 
creatures  who  say  they  will  do  a  thing  to-day 
and  change  to-morrow,  but  I  am  not  one  of  them. 
I  am  a  man. ' '  Here  he  struck  his  hand  proudly 
upon  his  breast.  "When  I  have  said  a  thing, 
my  manhood  obliges  me  to  keep  to  my  word  and 
do  it.  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  do  this  and 
shall  not  change  it." 

"Listen  to  me,  my  son.  I  remember  once  long 
ago  when  there  was  a  starving  time  with  the  In 
dians,  and  many  of  them  died  of  hunger.  They 
could  find  no  game ;  and  it  was  in  the  winter  and 
the  snow  very  deep ;  and  it  was  very  cold,  and  so 
they  starved  to  death.  Those  of  them  who  lived, 
lived  by  scraping  the  moss  off  the  trees,  and  eat 
ing  it,  keeping  themselves  barely  alive  in  that 
way.  I  was  in  that  starving  camp,  and  I  kept 
myself  barely  alive  with  moss.  I  had  a  little 
boy  with  me,  and  notwithstanding  the  starva 
tion  and  death  all  around  me,  I  kept  that  little 
boy  fat.  How  did  I  do  it?  I  had  some  food 
secretly  hidden,  and  every  day,  though  starv 
ing  myself,  I  fed  the  little  boy  some  of  that  food. 
I  never  touched  the  food  myself,  though  I  was 
starving;  but  gave  it  to  that  little  boy,  because 
I  loved  hini  better  than  my  life.  That  little  boy 
was  you. ' ' 

"Very  probably  you  did  all  that.  Indeed.  I 
have  heard  it  before.  It  is  natural,  I  suppose, 
for  mothers  to  do  that  for  their  children.  Al- 


THE  OJIBWAY  335 

most  any  of  them  would  do  it.  But  that  is  all 
past  long  ago,  and  we  have  to  consider  the  situa 
tion  now.  And  the  situation  is  that  you  are  old 
and  useless,  and  in  the  way.  There  is  a  thing 
that  I  forgot  to  tell  you  when  I  was  telling  you 
the  reasons  why  you  should  leave  this  world. 
Do  you  not  know  that  The  People  do  not  live  all 
the  year  round  in  one  place;  that  we  have  to 
move  around  a  good  deal  to  make  our  living? 
That  we  have  to  follow  the  food  wherever  it  is?" 

"Yes,  I  know  that." 

' '  And  do  you  not  know  that  you  are  not  able  to 
keep  up  with  us  on  the  march?  Do  you  not  re 
member  that  time  in  the  evening  when  we  got  in 
to  camp  you  were  not  there,  because  you  were 
not  able  to  keep  up  with  us?  And  you  did  not 
come  in  all  night,  because  you  could  not  travel ; 
and  when  we  were  all  ready  to  start  the  next 
morning  you  were  still  absent,  and  our  march 
was  delayed  by  long  waiting  for  you  there  till  it 
was  high  day,  till  you  got  in?  And  then  you  were 
so  weak,  from  having  got  no  supper  and  no 
breakfast,  that  you  went  tottering  along  and  de 
layed  us  still  more?  If  I  had  not  been  the  most 
merciful  man  in  the  world  I  would  have  gone 
on  and  abandoned  you  right  there!  I  do  not 
know  whether  you  would  have  got  to  where  we 
were  or  not!  That  was  the  first  time  that  I 
really  got  a-thinking  what  a  burden  you  were, 
and  that  it  was  about  time  for  you  to  leave  this 
world.  And  you  know  very  well  that  that  thing 
will  not  be  getting  any  better,  but  will  be  getting 
worse.  Instead  of  getting  spryer  you  will  keep 
getting  more  and  more  unable  to  march ;  even  if 


336  THE  OJIBWAY 

you  do  not  carry  any  pack,  and  have  only  your 
self  to  carry  along.  You  remember  that  time 
very  well,  and  you  know  that  you  will  be  becom 
ing,  as  I  say,  more  and  more  a  burden.  There 
fore  let  us  talk  no  more  about  this  matter.  We 
have  talked  about  it  long  enough.  I  have  said 
that  I  am  going  to  put  you  out  of  the  way,  and 
I  am  not  going  to  break  my  word ;  and  that  in 
cident  that  I  have  just  called  to  mind  only  shows 
me  more  clearly  that  I  am  right. ' ' 

It  was,  therefore,  arranged  that  she  must 
make  her  bed  in  the  snow  outside  the  wigwam 
that  night  without  any  fire,  and  every  night,  un 
til  the  end  came;  having  only  her  old  worn 
blanket  to  wrap  herself  in.  As  it  was  cold 
weather,  it  was  calculated  that  it  would  not  take 
long  for  the  cold  to  do  its  work. 

The  neighbors  did  not  observe  that  she  was 
outside  in  the  snow  until  daylight  next  morning 
revealed  it.  Then  there  was,  as  may  be  sup 
posed,  the  inquiry,  "What  is  the  meaning  of 
this!"  And  the  answer  quickly  went  round, 
given  by  Sha-bosh-kunk  himself,  that  he  was 
afraid  to  sleep  in  the  lodge  with  her,  because 
she  was  turning  into  a  man-eating  witch.  This 
news  quickly  spread  from  wigwam  to  wigwam, 
and  was  a  sort  of  wonder.  One  repeated  it  to 
another,  and  then  both  the  teller  and  the  hearer 
marvelled.  The  instinct  that  is  in  fallen  hu 
manity  to  believe  an  evil  report,  and  even  in  a 
manner  to  rejoice  at  it,  was  there.  And  it  caused 
the  women  to  utter  their  "gave,"  their  long- 
drawn  exclamation  of  surprise,  grief,  and 
horror  that  she  should  be  such  a  bad  old  woman ! 


THE  OJIBWAY  337 

Then  there  came  in  the  counter-feeling,  that  she 
had  always  been  such  a  good  woman  that  the 
accusation  could  not  be  true.  Then  there  came 
the  thought  that  Sha-bosh-kunk  only  made  the 
charge  for  an  excuse  to  put  his  old  mother  out 
of  the  way.  But  last  of  all  was  the  considera 
tion  that  there  was  a  real  genuine  witch  in  their 
midst,  and  that  was  a  most  delightful  sensation ! 
The  younger  women,  and  the  girls  especially 
took  that  view  of  it.  There  was  a  horrible,  but 
most  delightful,  fascination  in  going  and  taking 
a  fearful  look  at  her  as  she  sat  outside ;  feeling 
thankful  that  they  were  not  near  enough  for 
her  to  take  hold  of  them  and  devour  them !  So 
she  was  the  wonder  and,  to  some  extent,  the 
horror,  and  then  again  the  pity  of  her  little 
world.  The  last  feeling  prevailed  so  with  some 
of  the  women  that,  urged  by  the  sight  of  her  for 
lorn  condition  and  by  the  remembrance  of  so 
many  years  of  kind  association  and  kind  deeds 
on  her  part,  they  brought  her  some  warm  cooked 
food,  and  set  it  in  reach  of  her,  and  spoke  kindly 
to  her.  They  knew  that  they  had  no  power  to 
alter  her  fate  one  way  or  the  other,  for  she  be 
longed  to  her  son,  and  it  was  his  right  and  pri 
vilege  to  do  what  he  pleased  with  her,  and  no 
one  else  had  a  right  to  interfere.  But  it  was  in 
their  power  to  cheer  her  and  alleviate  her  suf 
ferings  by  kindly  words,  and  this  they  did.  This 
was  more  especially  noticeable  in  the  elderly 
women,  for  the  younger  were  more  impressed 
with  the  force  of  the  accusation  against  her, 
and  from  a  distance  gazed  with  a  feeling  of 
mingled  fear  and  horror  upon  her. 


338  THE  OJIBWAY 

So  the  hours  of  the  day  passed,  and  she  was 
the  principal  topic  of  conversation  in  the  vil 
lage.  Finally  some  of  the  men  rather  remon 
strated  with  Sha-bosh-kunk  for  making  such  a 
public  exhibition  of  her.  They  said  to  him: 
'  *  She  is  your  mother,  and  we  know  it  is  none  of 
our  business  what  you  do  to  her,  and  we  do  not 
question  your  right  to  do  to  her  as  you  please; 
but  it  rather  hurts  our  feelings  to  see  her  there, 
suffering,  right  in  the  midst  of  us,  where  we 
have  to  see  her  every  time  we  go  out.  It  would 
be  better  if  you  took  her  into  some  more  secret 
place,  where  she  would  be  out  of  public  sight. " 

Sha-bosh-kunk  yielded  to  this  request,  and 
pulled  her  inside  the  wigwam— she  had  been 
lying  just  outside— but  she  was  so  badly  frozen 
that  after  awhile  she  died. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SHA-BOSH-KUNK  KEACHES  THE  PINNACLE  OF  GLORY. 

Some  time  after  this,  Yellow  Thunder  was 
returning  to  the  Gull  Lake  village  from  a  hunt 
on  which  he  had  started  out  that  morning,  when 
an  Indian  met  him  who  acted  in  a  very  strange 
and  even  alarming  manner.  The  man  stopped 
him  in  the  path,  and  taking  hold  of  him  com 
pelled  him  to  sit  down.  In  answer  to  Yellow 
Thunder's  anxious  inquiry  as  to  what  it  meant, 
he  made  no  answer,  but  pointed  upward,  and 
then  stood  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground. 
He  seemed  to  be  laboring  under  some  great 
emotion,  and  also  acted  as  if  he  had  lost  the 
power  of  speech.  When  Yellow  Thunder,  after 
a  long  silence  on  the  part  of  both  of  them, 
attempted  to  rise  and  proceed  on  his  way,  the 
man  again  took  hold  of  him  with  an  air  of 
authority  and  forced  him  down.  Evidently  there 
was  something  of  overwhelming  importance 
on  his  mind,  yet  he  could  not  apparently  bring 
himself  to  disclose  what  it  was.  He  acted  as  if 
life  and  all  its  concerns  had  suddenly  come  to 
a  standstill  and  that  only  the  thing  he  was  think 
ing  of,  whatever  it  was,  remained.  Finally, 
after  a  long  time,  he  did  consent  to  rise  and 
walk  along  the  trail  leading  to  the  village,  and 
allowed  Yellow  Thunder  to  follow  him. 

When    they    came    to    the    village,    Yellow 


340  THE  OJIBWAY 

Thunder  saw  many  of  the  men  standing  about 
in  the  same  apparently  dazed  state  as  his  guide, 
and  he  understood  that  something  very  unusual, 
and  he  feared  very  serious,  had  occurred.  What 
it  was  he  could  not  conjecture.  No  one  had 
died— it  was  not  that.  Nor  had  there  been  any 
irruption  of  the  Sioux.  An  air  of  mystery,  in 
an  oppressive  form,  hung  over  the  village. 
Yellow  Thunder  first  made  sure  that  his  wife 
was  alive,  and  his  near  relatives,  and  then  bent 
his  mind  to  thinking  what  it  could  be.  But  he 
could  not  fathom  it,  nor  did  any  of  the  groups 
of  silent  men  seem  able  to  tell  what  it  was;  or 
if  they  were  able,  they  would  not. 

At  last  the  man  who  had  met  him  on  the  trail, 
and  another  man,  who  by  this  time  were  posing 
as  priests  of  this  mystery,  whatever  it  was, 
drew  the  men  of  the  village  by  signs  and  by 
leading  them  along,  but  without  speaking  and 
still  with  the  same  air  of  profound  mystery, 
to  a  central  place,  and  seemed  to  be  wishing  to 
have  a  council  with  them,  or  to  disclose  some 
thing  to  them.  They  all  followed  these  myste 
rious  beckonings,  and  slowly  and  gravely,  and 
as  mute  as  their  guides,  made  their  way  to  the 
accustomed  place.  Here,  in  the  same  silence, 
they  took  their  places  and  waited  for  whatever 
was  to  come.  They  had  to  wait  a  long  while. 
The  two  heralds,  or  priests,  or  whatever  they 
might  be  called,  who  were  evidently  in  posses 
sion  of  the  secret,  sat  with  their  eyes  fixed  upon 
the  ground,  as  if  weighed  down  with  some 
mighty  matter.  Either  it  was  so  great  that 
they  could  not  utter  it,  or  they  staggered  under 


THE  OJIBWAY  341 

the  difficulty  of  doing  so.  The  men  assembled 
looked  equally  grave— they  did  not  even  look 
at  each  other,  their  eyes  were  bent  on  the 
ground.  Save  for  an  occasional  deep  sigh  from 
some  one  of  the  two  leaders,  they  might  have 
been  men  suddenly  turned  to  statues. 

At  last,  after  a  long,  long  silence,  which  seemed 
as  if  it  would  never  end,  one  of  the  leaders 
spoke.  But  it  was  not  in  strains  of  oratory,  nor 
in  the  vehement  manner  that  ordinarily  char 
acterized  their  deliverances.  It  was  in  a  low  tone 
that  could  scarcely  be  heard,  and  only  a  word 
at  a  time,  with  long  pauses  between.  And 
he  spoke  not  standing  or  facing  them,  but  sitting, 
with  his  eyes  still  cast  upon  the  ground.  He 
began  by  telling  that  what  he  had  to  say  was 
amazing ;  something  too  wonderful  and  too  vast 
for  human  utterance.  Nevertheless,  he  must  let 
them  know  it,  and  therefore  he  had  led  them 
there. 

All  this  took  a  long  time  to  say,  and  the 
mystery  deepened  and  heightened  as  he  spoke. 
Finally  he  approached  the  subject,  and  his 
tones  became  more  awe-struck,  his  voice  sank 
lower,  and  the  periods  of  silence  between  his 
words  became  longer  than  before.  At  last  the 
mighty  secret  was  announced,  or  rather  it 
slowly,  and  word  by  word,  forced  itself  through 
his  lips. 

It  was  that  God  had  appeared  to  Sha-bosh- 
kunk,  of  their  village,  and  had  given  a  revela 
tion  of  His  will  to  him ;  and  had  appointed  him 
His  Son  to  save  the  world!  Then  followed  the 
circumstances  of  this  appearing,  slowly  told, 


342  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  with  becoming  fear;  how  Sha-bosh-kunk 
was  out  hunting  in  the  woods  and  how  the 
Supreme  Being  appeared  to  him.  There  was 
a  detailed  description  of  how  He  looked,  of  His 
features,  of  His  dress,  which  was  very  particu 
larly  described  from  head  to  foot,  and  which 
seemed  to  have  consisted  mostly  of  gold.  Then 
came  the  words  He  used,  which  were  very  par 
ticularly  related.  The  setting  of  this  wondrous 
act  of  Revelation  was  also  described,  the  par 
ticular  kind  of  tree  that  grew  there,  what  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  was  doing  and  thinking  of  at  the  time, 
and  the  other  accessories.  Then  the  speaker 
told  them  that  he  and  the  other  man  who  assisted 
him  had  been  commissioned  by  the  one  to  whom 
the  revelation  was  made  to  make  it  known  to 
the  people  for  their  acceptance  and  obedience, 
and  to  act  as  his  ("Oshkabewisug")  heralds, 
forerunners,  men  of  business,  and  conveyors  of 
His  will,  for  it  means  all  these. 

Sha-bosh-kunk,  while  this  announcement  was 
being  made,  sat  amidst  the  group,  his  eyes  like 
wise  bent  upon  the  ground,  weighed  down  as  it 
seemed,  by  the  momentous  commission  which 
had  been  put  upon  him.  He  was  now  too 
great  a  man  to  speak  to  the  people  directly, 
but  as  became  his  new  dignity,  through  inter 
mediaries.  He  meekly  accepted  all  the  honor 
that  his  heralds  put  upon  him,  and  there  he  was, 
the  Son  of  God,  and  the  accredited  representa 
tive  of  Deity!  When  the  first  herald  had 
finished,  the  other  took  the  matter  up,  adding 
some  touches  which  the  former  had  omitted  and 
contributing  to  the  roundness  and  coherency 


THE  OJIBWAY  343 

of  the  narrative.  They  helped  each  other,  one 
supplying  what  .the  other  omitted,  and  between 
them  raised  a  fabric  that  was  solid  and  impos 
ing. 

The  first  thought  that  came  to  Yellow  Thun 
der's  mind  when  he  heard  it  was  wonder;  that 
God,  if  He  were  making  a.  revelation  of  Himself, 
should  have  done  so  to  such  a  man  as  Sha-bosh- 
kunk,  and  not  to  some  more  worthy  representa 
tive.  For  although  he  was  a  chief,  and  in  many 
ways  had  a  great  reputation,  yet  there  were 
things  about  him  which  he  knew  that  did  not 
incline  him  to  think  at  all  favorably  of  him.  He 
thought  of  his  matrimonial  relations,  and  it 
left  a  bad  taste  in  his  mouth.  He  thought  of 
many  ways  in  which  people  had  suffered  by  him 
in  time  past.  He  remembered  the  expedition 
to  Leech  Lake  with  the  lucifer  match,  and 
although  it  excited  admiration  for  his  adroit 
ness,  yet  there  was  mixed  with  that  the  feeling 
that  it  was  not  right  towards  those  who  had  lost 
their  goods.  He  thought  of  the  accusation 
against  his  old  mother,  of  being  about  to  turn 
into  a  man-eating  witch,  and  of  what  grew  out 
of  that,  which  had  ended  in  the  old  mother  now 
resting  in  the  crotch  of  a  tree.  And  although 
he  realized  that  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  the  legal 
right  to  do  with  his  mother  as  he  pleased,  yet 
the  impression  produced  on  him  was  on  the 
whole  a  painful  one.  Therefore  it  seemed 
strange  to  him  that  God,  if  He  were  about  to 
make  a  revelation,  had  not  selected  some  other 
man  about  whom  so  many  unpleasant  memories 
did  not  cluster.  But  the  circumstances  of  the 


344  THE  OJIBWAY 

interview  with  the  Deity  were  related  so  cir 
cumstantially,  and  the  fact  of  his  being  the  man 
he  was  not  seeming  to  make  any  difference  in 
its  acceptance  with  the  other  Indians,  Yellow 
Thunder  did  not  see  any  reason  why  it  should 
with  him.  Therefore,  like  the  others,  he  ac 
cepted  the  new  revelation. 

He  now  arose  and  made  them  a  little  speech, 
but  in  low  and  somewhat  awe-struck  tones  as 
became  the  solemnity  of  the  subject.  And  nr 
the  speech  he  voiced  his  own  ideas  on  the  matter, 
which  were  also  the  ideas  of  those  present. 

4 ' Indeed,  my  friends/'  said  Yellow  Thunder, 
"this  is  a  wonderful  thing  that  we  have  heard, 
that  God  has  been  pleased  to  make  a  revelation 
of  Himself  to  one  of  our  village,  Sha-bosh-kunk, 
and  to  appoint  him  His  Son!  Neither  we  nor 
our  ancestors  have  ever  known  anything  so  won 
derful  !  It  is  amazing !  And  in  no  other  village 
of  the  Ojibways  has  such  a  thing  occurred;  but 
only  in  ours !  And  yet,  amazing  as  it  is,  we  are 
not,  in  one  sense,  surprised  at  it.  We  all  know 
there  is  a  god  or  gods ;  every  Indian  knows  that. 
We  all  know  it  as  truly  as  we  know  that  we  our 
selves  live.  I  have  never  met  an  Ojibway  in  my 
life  who  does  not  believe  that,  nor  have  any  of 
you,  for  there  is  no  such  Ojibway.  And  we  have 
seen  the  Sioux;  they  all  know  and  believe  that 
just  as  we  do. 

"The  missionary  who  was  here  told  us  there 
is  only  one  God,  our  ancestors  taught  us  there 
are  many— gods  everywhere.  But  both  doc 
trines  are  the  same;  for  both  tell  us  that  this 
world  and  we  were  made  and  are  governed  by 
some  One  or  some  ones  else,  and  that  neither 


THE  OJIBWAY  345 

we  nor  this  world  made  or  governs  itself.  You 
know  our  fathers  taught  us  that  everything  we 
see— as  a  bear,  or  a  rock— is  only  an  outward 
representation  of  the  inward  Deity  that  resides 
therein.  That  every  such  thing  is  the  outward 
expression,  or  the  body,  and  that  the  soul  which 
resides  within  is  God  or  a  spirit.  And  that  is 
why  when  we  are  traveling  on  the  prairie  and 
see  a  rock,  say,  or  anything  remarkable,  we 
place  an  offering  of  tobacco  upon  it  to  the  deity 
within.  We  are  very  pious  in  that  way,  as  our 
ancestors  taught  us.  And  although  we  cannot 
see  God  as  Those- who-pray  (the  Christians) 
call  Him;  or  the  gods,  as  our  ancestors  taught 
us,  for  He  hides  Himself  from  us  behind  the 
veil  of  matter,  yet  we  come  pretty  close  to  see 
ing  Him,  for  we  constantly  see  where  He  has 
been  at  work.  When  in  the  spring  and  summer 
season  we  go  out  of  our  wigwam  doors  in  the 
morning  we  see  where  Some  One  has  been  at 
work  during  the  night.  Things  look  different 
from  what  they  did  the  day  before.  Leaves 
have  been  shaped  and  opened  during  the  night, 
and  colors  have  been  laid  on  the  flowers  that 
were  not  there  the  day  before.  While  we  were 
sleeping  Some  One  was  at  work.  Red  and  blue 
and  green  and  all  colors  have  been  spread 
and  far  more  beautifully  than  we  or  any  one 
on  the  top  of  the  ground  could  do  it.  We  can 
constantly  see  the  work,  though  the  Workman 
eludes  us.  Our  senses  at  present  are  not  fine 
enough  to  see  Him.  For  my  part,  when  I  walk 
abroad,  in  the  spring  especially,  when  the  leaves 
are  opening  and  the  flowers  unfolding,  I  am 


346  THE  OJIBWAY 

filled  with  wonder  and  amazement  as  I  look 
around  and  on  every  hand  see  the  marks  of 
God's  working!  And  it  is  so  with  every  one  of 
you  I  know.  We  are  none  of  us  so  insensate  as 
not  to  take  notice  of  these  things  which  are  right 
under  our  eyes  all  the  time. 

"  There  being,  therefore,  a  God  or  gods,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  He  should  in  some  way  com 
municate  with  His  children  whom  He  has  made. 
In  fact,  we  have  been  expecting  that  in  some 
way  He  would.  Rather  would  it  be  most  sur 
prising  if  He  left  us  to  grope  along  in  the  dark 
and  never  communicated  with  us.  We  would 
doubt  whether  He  really  pitied  us  if  He  never 
in  any  way  showed  Himself  to  us,  or  spoke  to 
us.  So  I  say  for  myself  that  I  have  been  expect 
ing  something  of  this  sort,  and  I  know  you  have 
also.  And  when  the  missionary  was  here  with 
us  he  told  us  the  very  same  thing  that  we  are 
now  thinking  of  and  have  long  ago  been  think 
ing  of,  namely,  that  God  has  spoken.  These 
two  heralds  say  it;  the  missionary  says  it,  and 
we  have  long  had  a  feeling  that  it  would  come 
to  pass,— and  now  here  it  is.  God  has  chosen 
Sha-bosh-kunk,  it  appears,  as  the  one  by  whom 
He  will  speak,  and  who  will  represent  Him  on 
earth.  Well,  it  is  for  Him  to  choose  whom  He 
pleases,  and  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  accept  and 
obey." 

His  Indian  politeness  would  not  allow  him 
to  recount  any  particulars  of  wherein  he 
thought  Sha-bosh-kunk  was  not  fully  up  to 
the  standard  of  what  a  representative  of  Deity 
should  be,  especially  as  he  was  present.  And 


THE  OJIBWAY  347 

even  had  he  been  absent  he  would  not,  consider 
ing  that  it  was  God's  part  to  choose  whom  He 
pleased,  and  their  part  to  accept  the  one  sent. 
He,  therefore,  concluded  by  saying  that  he,  like 
the  others,  accepted  the  revelation  and  accepted 
Sha-bosh-kunk  as  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  he 
would  do  his  best  to  bring  all  into  obedience  to 
him,  as  in  duty  bound. 

The  particulars  of  the  revelation  were  how 
stated  by  the  two  heralds,  while  Sha-bosh-kunk 
sat  meekly  listening  and  approving.  He  was 
dressed  in  moccasins,  leggings,  bead  garters, 
and  a  shirt,  which  flowed  loose,  not  being  con 
fined  by  any  other  garment.  Feathers  were  in 
his  hair.  His  eyes  were  mostly  upon  the  ground, 
and  humility  was  the  expression  that  was  main 
ly  on  his  face,  as  if  he  felt  himself  unworthy  of 
so  great  an  honor.  The  particulars  were  that 
God  had  appointed  Sha-bosh-kunk  His  Son  to 
save  the  world,  and  if  he  had  not  been  sent  the 
world  would  not  have  lasted  two  years  longer; 
that  the  Indians  were  all  implicitly  to  obey  and 
follow  him ;  that  they  were  to  discard  all  means 
of  making  fire  derived  from  the  whites, — as 
matches,  and  flint  and  steel,— and  were  to  re 
turn  to  the  old  Indian  way  of  making  fire  by  the 
friction  of  sticks  in  rapid  motion ;  that  the  Deity 
was  very  greatly  displeased  with  them  for 
adopting  these  new  ways  of  making  fire;  that 
women  were  not  to  be  struck ;  that  all  dogs  were 
to  be  killed ;  and  that  horses  promised  in  a  dance 
were  not  to  be  delivered.  There  were  some 
other  minor  commands,  but  these  were  the  prin 
cipal  ones. 


348  THE  OJIBWAY 

This  met  with  the  approval  and  acquiescence 
of  the  Indians  present,  and  they  promised  to 
adopt  them;  ajid  accepted  Sha-bosh-kunk  and 
his  revelation  as  the  will  of  God  for  them.  Some 
of  the  commands,  as  that  to  kill  dogs  and  throw 
away  the  fire-steel,  were  a  little  hard,  for  dogs 
were  very  useful,  finding  bears  and  other 
animals  for  them  in  the  woods,  which  without 
them  they  could  not  find;  bringing  out  of  the 
water  birds  that  they  killed,  and  doing  many 
other  useful  things.  But  this  only  made  the 
new  religion  more  attractive,  for  what  would 
religion  be  without  a  spice  of  hardness  in  it? 
The  sacrifice  demanded  endeared  it  all  the  more 
to  them.  They  urged  one  another  on,  therefore, 
to  the  slaughter  of  the  dogs,  saying,  "If  God 
has  told  us  this,  we  must  do  it  whether  we  like 
it  or  not."  In  the  same  way  old  contrivances 
for  making  fire,  long  disused,  were  got  ready. 
The  whole  village  unanimously  and  unques- 
tioningly  adopted  the  new  revelation,  and  put 
in  practice  its  precepts. 

The  next  thing  was  to  make  other  villages 
aware  of  this  new  revelation,  and  to  demand 
their  obedience  to  it.  It  invested  their  village 
with  a  certain  superiority,  that  God  had  selected 
it  to  appear  in,  rather  than  any  other ;  and  that 
one  of  themselves  was  the  one  He  had  appeared 
to  and  appointed  His  Son.  There  were,  there 
fore,  many  willing  volunteers  to  carry  the  news 
to  other  villages,  for  the  bearer  of  such  an  im 
portant  matter  was  thereby  made  a  man  of 
much  importance  himself.  Many  councillings 
were  held,  occupying  many  days,  consulting 


THE  OJIBWAY  349 

how  best  to  further  this  important  matter.  The 
new  cult  overshadowed  everything  else ;  nothing 
else  was  thought  or  talked  of.  The  heartiness 
with  which  they  threw  themselves  into  it  was 
remarkable.  Sqon  emissaries  were  speeding  to 
Leech  Lake,  Mille  Lacs,  and  every  Ojibway 
village,  no  matter  how  remote ;  who,  when  they 
arrived,  arrested  the  hunters  in  the  same  myste 
rious  way  that  had  been  practiced  on  Yellow 
Thunder;  gathered  them  into  councils,  and 
there,  with  the  same  impressive  observance 
which  had  been  used  at  Gull  Lake,  made  known 
to  them  the  new  revelation,  and  the  Son  of  God. 
It  spread  like  wild-fire  everywhere  in  the  Indian 
country;  and  even  to  distant  villages  in  the 
British  Possessions  and  far  north  toward  Hud 
son  bay,  went  messengers  bearing  the  wonder 
ful  news  of  the  appearance  of  God  in  the  Gull 
Lake  village,  and  of  the  commands  he  had 
delivered  to  Sha-bosh-kunk. 

The  excitement  produced  by  the  wonderful 
news  increased.  He  who  had  heard  it  thought 
himself  in  possession  of  a  treasure  which  he 
could  not  rest  till  he  had  communicated  to  some 
other  man,  who  had  heard  it  not.  He  felt  that 
he  had  a  certain  superiority  in  his  position  of 
conveyor  over  the  one  to  whom  he  conveyed  it. 

Soon  there  began  to  come  to  Gull  Lake, 
Indians  from  great  distances,  to  see  this  new 
prophet,  and  to  hear  with  their  own  ears.  Some 
came  on  horseback,  some  afoot.  Many  and 
many  painful  days'  journeys  did  they  make  to 
see  him.  From  being  comparatively  unknown, 
he  had  suddenly  became  a  great  celebrity.  His 


350  THE  OJIBWAY 

fame  reached  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles, 
and  to  the  most  distant  Indian  villages. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  did  not  cheapen  himself.  He 
allowed  himself  to  be  seen,  indeed,  by  his 
admirers,  but  they  must  approach  upon  their 
hands  and  knees.  To  one  who  declined  thus  to 
approach  him,  he  foretold,  through  his  heralds, 
approaching  disaster,  and  when  the  man  was 
going  home  his  pony  ran  away  and  threw  him 
and  nearly  killed  him.  When  this  became  known 
it  invested  Sha-bosh-kunk  with  an  attribute  of 
fear,  and  visitors  were  careful  in  future  to 
approach  him  with  becoming  reverence.  He 
himself  did  not  deign  to  speak  to  any  one;  only 
to  be  seen,  and  that  not  always  readily.  To  his 
heralds  he  communicated  his  will,  and  they  pro 
mulgated  it  to  the  people. 

One  of  those  who  came  to  see  him  was,  how 
ever,  of  a  skeptical  turn  of  mind;  for  when  he 
saw  him  he  found  him  eating  boiled  corn  with 
out  anything  else,  and  he  went  home  and  told 
to  his  village  that  he  did  not  believe  he  was  the 
Son  of  God,  for  if  he  had  been  he  would  have 
been  "  blessed ;"  that  is,  would  have  had  some 
thing  better  to  eat  than  whole  boiled  corn ! 

Sha-bosh-kunk  had  now  reached  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  his  glory.  His  name  was  known  in 
the  most  distant  creeks  and  rivers,  and  in  the 
wigwams  in  the  deepest  recesses  of  the  forest, 
far,  far  away.  Pilgrims  came  to  see  him  from 
distant  villages  which  the  Gull  Lake  Indians  had 
previously  never  heard  of.  Even  as  far  away 
as  Wawiatanong  (Detroit)  it  was  told  that  God 
had  appeared  to  Sha-bosh-kunk  at  Gull  Lake; 


THE  OJIBWAY  351 

and  hunters  in  that  vicinity  turned  the  prows 
of  their  canoes  northward,  to  paddle  for  weeks, 
to  go  and  see  him.  Nor  did  they  come  empty- 
handed.  His  votaries  brought  him  presents  of 
all  kinds,  and  he  became  by  far  the  most  opulent 
man  in  the  village.  No  longer  could  it  be  said 
of  him  that  he  had  only  boiled  corn  to  eat!  Of 
silver  ornaments  and  of  furs,  of  the  various 
things  that  the  Indian  considers  most  valuable, 
he  had  a  great  store.  And  he  brought  such 
honor  and  dignity  to  the  village  that  they  all 
began  to  be  proud  of  him.  And  not  honor  only, 
but  he  brought  profit  also.  In  various  ways 
they  reaped  a  material  benefit  from  the  crowds 
of  visitors.  They  became,  in  a  way,  hotel- 
keepers,  and  did  a  thriving  business  housing  the 
visitors,  for  which  they  were  paid;  for  there 
were  so  many  that  they  could  not  be  expected 
to  do  it  for  nothing. 

It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  they  began  to 
look  on  him  as  a  very  great  man;  their  great 
man.  Former  shortcomings  that  they  might 
have  remembered  were  condoned  in  his  wonder 
ful  success.  Those  things  were  in  the  past;  this 
success  was  a  blazing  present  fact.  Not  only, 
then,  in  material  spoils,  but  in  the  highest  honor 
and  influence  did  Sha-bosh-kunk  now  abound. 
He  had  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  ladder  and  was 
firmly  seated  there,  above  them  all,  even  if  some 
of  the  steps  by  which  he  had  ascended  were  a 
little  shaky.  He  had  all  that  heart  could  wish 
for.  He  had  proved  himself  a  very  successful 
wrestler,  for  he  had  won  the  highest  prize. 

How   had   it   all   come   about.     It  was   the 


352  THE  OJIBWAY 

I 

product  of  his  own  fertile  brain,  and  of  his  keen 
eye  to  see  what  would  be  of  advantage  to  him 
self,  and  seize  upon  it.  When  he  had  heard  the 
missionary,  Breck,  talking  about  the  Son  of 
God;  that  He  had  come,  and  that  He  was  to 
come  again,  the  idea  occurred  to  him  that  here 
was  something  for  him.  Who  was  so  worthy  to 
be  a  Son  of  God  as  himself.  Did  he  not  surpass 
in  smartness  his  fellow  Indians?  Which  of 
them  could  have  got  such  a  large  quantity  of 
goods  by  that  lucifer  match.  He  therefore  men 
tally  laid  by  this  new  idea,  as  he  had  the  Sioux 
garter,  for  use  at  some  future  time. 

The  time  came.  He  was  at  a  dance  where 
much  excitement  was  developed  in  the  matter 
of  the  dancers  giving  presents  to  each  other.  It 
was  done  somewhat  through  the  contagion  of 
excitement,  the  giving  away  of  presents  by  some 
stirring  others  to  do  the  same.  The  principal 
reason,  however,  of  doing  it  was  to  gain  reputa-r 
tion.  He  who  gave  away  his  property  was  a 
"  strong-hearted "  man,  generous  and  magnani 
mous,  who  did  not  mind  giving  away  his  sub 
stance  in  the  abundance  of  his  generosity !  The 
act  excited  admiration  and  the  giver  gained 
praise. 

When,  therefore,  Sha-bosh-kunk  was  caper 
ing  around  in  the  ring  dancing,  at  the  same  time 
whooping  and  yelling,  he  felt  a  desire  to  attract 
attention  and  to  gain  a  reputation  for  being 
generous  and  liberal,  one  who  did  not  mind 
giving  away  the  most  valuable  property  he  had 
to  _a_ friend;  so,  carried  away  for  the  time  by 
these  feelings,  he  looked  aimlessly  here  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  353 

there  as  if  he  were  uncertain  just  what  he  would 
do,  then  of  a  sudden  halted  in  front  of  a  man 
where  he  was  seated  and  thrust  in  the  ground 
before  him  two  rods.  This  was  a  pledge  that  he 
would  deliver  to  the  man  two  ponies,  the  only 
ones  he  had.  This  "  brave "  act  brought  loud 
shouts  of  approval  from  the  dancers;  admiring 
looks  were  cast  upon  Sha-bosh-kunk,  and  he  was 
a  very  happy  man.  But  when  the  morning 
brought  reflection  he  was  sorely  troubled  in 
mind  that  he  had  to  give  away  those  ponies. 
He  sought  some  way  out  of  it,  but  could  find 
none.  There  was  no  escape  from  delivering 
those  ponies  or  losing  his  honor  and  being 
laughed  at. 

It  occurred  to  him  that  perhaps  the  white 
people,  who  had  so  much  knowledge,  might 
know  of  some  way  out  of  it,  so  he  resolved  to 
consult  them.  He  therefore  made  a  journey  to 
where  his  trader  lived,  quite  a  long  distance  off, 
told  him  of  his  perplexity,  and  asked  him  to  find 
some  way  for  him  to  avoid  delivering  those 
horses.  The  trader,  well  accustomed  to  Indian 
customs,  frankly  told  him  that  there  was  no  way 
out  of  it ;  that  those  horses  must  be  delivered  if 
he  were  not  to  become  an  object  of  derision  at 
Gull  Lake. 

Thus  thrown  back  on  his  own  resources  he 
meditated  very  intently  on  the  subject,  and  at 
last  the  plan  gradually  made  itself  clear  to  him 
to  announce  that  God  had  appeared  to  him  and 
appointed  him  His  Son;  and  further,  that  God 
had  given  a  revelation  of  His  will  to  him,  and 
among  the  points  given  him,  a  command  that 


354  THE  OJIBWAY 

"no  horses  promised  in  a  dance  were  to  be 
delivered. "  In  this  way  he  would  save  his 
credit  and  his  horses,  too,  and  if  he  was  success 
ful,  establish  himself  on  a  very  lofty  pinacle  as 
the  Son  of  God.  The  next  thing,  having  thought 
out  the  scheme  so  far,  was  to  find  instruments 
to  aid  him.  It  would  not  do  for  him  to  attempt 
it  himself  alone— he  must  be  vouched  for  by 
others.  It  would  be  too  easy  and  too  bare-faced 
for  him  alone  to  assert  that  God  had  spoken  to 
him  and  given  a  revelation  to  him,  and  commis 
sioned  him.  Help,  therefore,  he  must  have. 
Casting  about  to  see  where  the  help  would  come 
from,  he  remembered  two  men  who,  led  away 
by  the  excitement,  had  similarly  promised 
horses  in  the  dance,  and  were  now  in  very  low 
spirits  touching  the  delivery  of  the  same.  To 
these,  therefore,  he  went ;  informed  them  of  his 
interview  and  revelation,  and  particularly  of 
that  part  of  it  about  the  delivery  of  horses.  He 
pointed  out  to  them  this  avenue  of  escape  from 
their  predicament.  He  found  them  not  at  all 
unwilling  to  be  persuaded;  in  fact,  very  ready 
to  believe  all  he  told  them  about  his  meeting 
with  God.  Having  thus  enlisted  them,  he  care 
fully  trained  them  for  their  part;  instructed 
them  how  to  arrest  hunters ;  how  to  throw  an  air 
of  mystery  about  it ;  how  to  produce  a  sensation. 
When  all  was  ready  the  disclosure  was  made, 
and  there,  in  among  the  other  revelations,  was 
one  little  revelation  against  the  delivery  of 
horses  promised  in  a  dance. 

The  scheme  worked  even  better,  and  extended 
wider  than  he  had  imagined ;  not  to  horses  only, 


THE  OJIBWAY  355 

but  to  far  greater  things.  They  all  profited  by 
it.  Not  he  alone,  but  his  heralds  also  in  less 
degree,  and  they  were  equally  interested  in 
keeping  up  what  had  unexpectedly  become  so 
large  a  thing.  Not  only  profit,  but  the  heralds 
even  had  become  great  men,  upholding  the 
majestic  figure  of  Sha-bosh-kunk.  His  surpass 
ing  greatness  as  the  Son  of  God  was  reflected 
upon  them.  Here,  then,  he  was  in  the  very  hey 
day  of  wealth,  power,  and  popularity. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

FAMINE/  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT. 

This  marvelous  exaltation  of  Sha-bosh-kunk 
continued  all  the  summer.  After  a  while  the 
winter  set  in  and  Gull  Lake  took  on  a  new  love 
liness  under  a  dazzling  robe  of  pure  white  snow. 
It  was  a  different  kind  of  loveliness  from  that 
of  rose  crowned  summer;  but  in  its  way  it  was 
equally  as  great.  The  difference  was  so  great 
that  they  might  have  been  two  different  worlds. 
In  summer  everything  was  covered  with  a  uni 
versal  mantle  of  green,  save  where  it  was 
bespangled  with  the  red  petals  of  the  rose.  The 
pines,  the  meadows,  the  little  prairies  and  open 
ings  were  all  covered  with  this  robe  of  green. 
After  a  June  shower,  when  there  had  come  * '  the 
clear  shining  after  rain,"  there  was  a  dazzling 
greenness  lit  up  by  the  sparkling  of  innumerable 
raindrops. 

But  now,  in  winter,  the  world  had  changed 
to  pure  white.  As  far  as  one  could  go  to  the 
north  or  to  the  south  not  an  inch  of  space  could 
be  seen  that  did  not  have  that  pure  white  mantle. 
The  lake  was  covered  with  it,  and  but  for  its 
levelness,  and  the  absence  of  trees  or  shrubs, 
would  have  seemed  a  part  of  the  land.  The  pine 
trees  were  loaded  with  snow,  which  hung  on 
their  branches  and  on  the  tufts  of  the  pines, 
forming  a  thick  cap  for  them  and  bending  them 


THE  OJIBWAY  357 

down  toward  the  ground.  It  was  this  loading 
of  the  pines  with  snow,  their  supporting  masses 
of  it  in  the  air,  that  gave  the  landscape  its 
special  winter  loveliness.  It  was  when  the  sun 
shone  clear,  which  it  did  day  after  day  and  week 
after  week,  in  a  cloudless  sky  of  deepest  blue, 
that  this  beauty  reached  its  height.  Then  the 
snow  sparkled  in  innumerable  diamond  points 
on  the  ground  below  and  among  the  tufts  of  the 
pines,  till  the  earth  was  one  dazzling  splendor. 
Oh,  the  perfect  purity,  the  glory  of  such  a  day ! 
And  during  the  moon-of-the-freezing-of-the- 
waters  (November),  especially,  the  trees  were 
covered  with  the  most  exquisite  frost-work.  It 
was  like  a  fairy  dream.  Humane  imagination 
could  not  have  conceived  much  less  human 
hands  executed,  such  miracles  of  artistic  work 
in  frosting  as  were  every  morning  displayed  in 
lavish  prodigality. 

Nor  were  these  displays  of  beauty  confined  to 
the  day.  The  nights  oftentimes  presented 
greater.  The  sky  was  filled  with  mock  moons, 
each  one  so  bright  that  it  was  impossible  to  tell 
which  was  the  real  one;  and  these  moons  were 
connected  by  bands  of  light  that  formed  a  circle 
round  the  entire  sky.  From  the  mock  moons 
and  from  the  connecting  bands  other  streams 
of  light  shot  up  to  the  zenith.  There  were 
crosses,  and  many  different  figures,  so  that  the 
world  overhead  was  filled  with  an  indescribable 
glory  and  splendor.  Beauty  and  splendor 
above,  beauty  and  purity  below— the  beauty  and 
purity  of  the  far  northern  winter. 

Midway  between  the  above  and  the  below, 


358  THE  OJIBWAY 

sheltered  beneath  the  overhanging  pines  the 
Gull  Lake  village  nestled.  The  smoke  from  each 
open  wigwam  top  could  be  seen  ascending  far, 
far  up  toward  the  zenith  in  the  still  winter  air 
each  morning.  At  night  it  was  a  pillar  of  fire. 
From  within  came  the  shouts  and  laughter  of 
happy  families,  free  from  care,  and  with 
nothing  to  do  but  enjoy  the  good  things  which 
abounded  on  every  hand.  Quantities  of  flesh, 
the  proceeds  of  the  exertions  of  their  hunters, 
were  hung  from  rude  scaffolds  of  poles  in  front 
of  each  wigwam;  and  fish,  which  the  mothers 
had  caught  and  which  were  suspended  there 
frozen.  On  the  same  scaffold,  or  within  the 
wigwam,  were  some  little  stores  of  wild  rice 
gathered  by  the  women  the  previous  autumn; 
of  corn  raised  by  them;  perhaps  of  potatoes. 
There  was  also  some  of  last  spring's  maple 
sugar  still  remaining  in  the  birch-bark  "mo- 
kuks"  in  which  it  had  been  put. 

As  usual,  enjoyment  was  the  only  thing  they 
had  to  attend  to.  The  only  work  to  do  was  pro 
viding  the  daily  supply  of  wood  to  keep  the 
wigwam  fire  going,  and  this  was  done  by  the 
women— but  not  as  work,  but  in  the  way  of  a 
frolic.  Daily,  about  an  hour  before  sunset,  they 
could  be  seen  issuing  from  their  lodges,  each 
with  her  ax  and  packing  strap.  They  laughed 
and  joked  with  each  other  as  they  followed  the 
path  that  led  into  the  woods,  and  soon  the  forest 
was  vocal  with  the  sound  of  their  axes.  Then 
they  emerged,  each  woman  bearing  a  great  load 
on  her  back,  carried  by  the  packing-strap  which 
passed  around  her  forehead.  It  was  deposited 


THE  OJIBWAY  359 

at  the  door  of  her  wigwam,  and  then  she  went 
back  for  another  load,  until  enough  had  been 
secured.  Besides  this  there  was  the  tanning  of 
skins,  the  cooking  of  food,  but  all  these  could  be 
done  without  much  exertion.  The  area  of  her 
home  was  so  small  that  the  woman  could  reach 
nearly  every  article  she  needed  in  her  house 
keeping  without  rising  from  her  sitting  position 
on  the  mat,  or  at  any  rate  with  the  aid  of  a 
forked  stick  to  bring  it  to  her. 

So  the  first  part  of  winter  wore  joyously  away 
until  midwinter  came.  Then  occurred  an  event 
of  some  importance — a  visit  paid  them  by  a 
band  of  sixty  men  and  women  from  the  neigh 
boring  village  of  Leech  Lake.  The  weather  was 
now  cold  (about  forty  degrees  below  zero)  and 
the  snow  was  deep;  but  neither  cold  nor  snow 
had  the  smallest  terrors  for  their  visitors.  Each 
had  his  or  her  blanket,  the  equipment  which  the 
0  jibway  thinks  sufficient  in  any  sort  of  weather. 
If  he  has  his  blanket  he  asks  no  more  by  night 
or  day.  It  is  his  house  that  protects  him  from 
rain,  snow,  and  wind ;  and  his  sufficient  covering 
by  night  to  keep  him  warm.  They  had  been 
about  three  days  on  the  way,  taking  it  leisurely, 
as  it  was  a  pleasure  trip.  Their  route  being 
through  a  timbered  country,  they  made  great 
fires  at  night,  and  slept  in  perfect  comfort. 

Their  arrival  added  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
Gull  Lake  people,  and  the  time  of  their  stay  was 
wholly  given  up  to  festivities.  They  were  all 
hospitably  taken  into  the  wigwams  of  their 
hosts,  crowding  them  to  their  capacity.  The 
stores  of  provisions  were  liberally  drawn  upon, 


360  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  everything  they  had,  used  freely  to  feed 
their  visitors.  The  hunters  no  longer  went  out 
each  morning  to  bring  in  supplies  of  meat,  for 
there  was  too  much  going  on,  and  of  too  exciting 
a  character.  Every  morning,  after  breakfast, 
they  all  assembled  in  a  sort  of  council-house,  or 
dance-house,  rudely  constructed  by  themselves, 
and  of  sufficient  capacity  to  hold  the  entire 
village  and  their  guests.  Here  drumming  and 
dancing  went  on  all  day  long  and  far  into  the 
night.  During  the  frequent  intervals  of  the 
dance,  and  while  they  were  resting,  the  speakers 
addressed  them,  and  hundreds  of  speeches  were 
made.  The  favorite  subject,  both  with  speakers 
and  auditors,  was  about  killing  Sioux,  and  the 
adventures  they  had  met  in  that  pursuit. 

A  Leech  Lake  man  would  stand  up  and  begin 
with  his  leaving  Leech  Lake;  describe  his  jour 
ney,  all  that  he  saw,  his  getting  sight  of  the 
enemy,  his  killing,  his  flight,  the  pursuit  that 
was  made  of  him  and  how  he  saved  himself. 
When  he  came  to  the  part  where  he  killed  his 
enemy  the  drum  gave  the  usual  tap  as  the  life 
went  out. 

There  were  other  subjects  discussed— their 
own  politics,  the  struggles  of  some  for  pre 
eminence,  and  the  efforts  of  others  to  keep  them 
down,  the  encroachments  which  they  thought 
were  practiced  on  them  by  the  whites,  and  sto 
ries  of  hunting  were  told,  and  of  adventures 
with  animals.  But  the  most  popular  subject  of 
all  was  about  killing  Sioux.  Food  was  cooked 
and  brought  into  them  in  a  great  common  dish, 
out  of  which  they  helped  themselves.  It  was 


PEACE  MEETING 

-OF- 

Ojibways   and  Dakotas* 

-\/r  TMT     l_i(y)  Transcribed  and   harmonized 

i.  o        .w. 


-^— ^— p» F?:-~ 


"•"  >  £  *  rr  r  r          r 

*•»     ,     *». 


n  I I_J^. 


f  ->.s:'  *  •-  ^-  *  ^f  -  -  r  TT* 

'  ' 


/  r  ^ 


362  THE  OJIBWAY 

hard  to  find  dogs  since  Sha-bosh-kunk's  new 
cult  had  caused  them  to  be  killed ;  nevertheless 
some  were  found  somewhere,  and  solemn  cere 
monial  feasts  had  upon  them. 

While  the  dancing  and  story-telling  were 
going  on  in  the  main  building,  there  was  a 
gambling  annex  in  a  wigwam  nearby,  where 
those  who  preferred  that  form  of  amusement 
could  have  it.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  time  of  general 
license,  and  anything  that  any  one  wished  to 
do  was  considered  perfectly  proper  and  legiti 
mate. 

At  last  their  visitors  had  danced  and  drummed 
and  talked  all  they  wished  to,  and  prepared  to 
go  home.  Their  hosts  were  by  this  time  not  at 
all  sorry  to  see  them  go,  for  though  they  had 
eagerly  welcomed  them  at  first,  they  had  now 
got  enough  of  it.  The  worst  thing  was  that  it 
had  made  a  serious  inroad  on  their  stock  of 
provisions.  However,  they  trusted  that  their 
hunters  could  supply  the  deficiency. 

Their  guests  gone,  they  now  settled  down  to 
their  former  ways,  but  were  soon  alarmed  by 
the  increasing  scarcity  of  food.  Their  wild  rice, 
corn,  and  potatoes  had  all  been  consumed  while 
their  visitors  were  there;  their  fish,  taken  just 
at  the  time  of  the  freezing  up  of  the  lakes,  were 
also  exhausted,  and  the  scaffolds  were  becoming 
empty  of  meat.  The  severe  cold  still  continued 
day  after  day  without  relaxation.  It  was  nearly 
forty  degrees  below  zero  every  day,  and  the 
hunters  did  not  like  very  well  to  go  out  nor  to 
go  far  in  such  extreme  cold.  But  the  worst  of 
all  was  that  no  game  could  be  found !  The  ani- 


THE  OJIBWAY  363 

mals  had  either  been  driven  away  by  the  storms 
or  for  some  mysterious  reason  had  withdrawn 
themselves  to  some  other  place— but  certain  it 
was  that  they  could  not  be  found.  It  is  true 
there  were  plenty  of  buffaloes  on  the  edge  of 
the  great  prairies  at  Wild  Bice  river,  but  that 
was  four  sleeps  (one  hundred  miles)  away. 
There  was  no  road,  the  snow  was  two  and  a  half 
feet  deep  on  a  level,  and  to  move  their  little 
children,  themselves,  and  what  they  must  take 
with  them,  in  such  deep  snow  and  in  such  ex 
treme  cold,  was  utterly  impossible.  They  must, 
therefore,  remain  where  they  were  and  try  to 
find  food  some  way. 

In  this  extremity  they  cut  holes  through  the 
ice  of  their  lake  and  endeavored  to  spear  fish, 
using  decoys  to  attract  them,  but,  although  they 
lay  all  day  on  the  snow  over  the  hole,  suffering 
severely  from  the  cold,  their  heads  covered  with 
a  blanket  so  they  could  see  in  the  water,  one 
hand  holding  the  fish  spear,  and  the  other  work 
ing  the  decoy,  no  fish  came,  and  they  returned 
disheartened  to  the  wigwam.  The  ice  was  by 
this  time  nearly  three  feet  thick,  and  although 
it  was  about  the  first  of  February  the  cold 
showed  no  signs  of  abating.  They  were  held 
fast  in  an  iron  grip.  Everything  was  frozen 
as  hard  as  iron.  Any  metal  that  one  accident 
ally  touched  burned  like  fire;  or  if  the  hands 
were  moist,  adherred  to  it. 

The  aspect  of  nature  had  changed  from  the 
loveliness  it  had  had  in  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  had  become  severe  and  even  savage. 
Nature  had  now  assumed  a  positively  hostile 


364  THE  OJIBWAY 

aspect.  The  sun  no  longer  shone.  The  sky  was 
clouded  and  lowering  for  weeks.  It  kept  trying 
to  snow  and,  though  not  a  great  deal  fell,  there 
was  a  constant  threat  of  burying  them  still 
deeper  than  they  were.  The  snow  that  had 
loaded  the  pines  and  bent  their  branches  toward 
the  earth,  constituting  a  great  deal  of  the  loveli 
ness  of  winter,  had  now  been  blown  down  by 
the  winds,  and  the  trees  waved  their  branches, 
bare  and  desolate. 

What  a  change  in  their  condition  had  come 
about  in  a  short  time,  from  the  happy  abandon 
and  the  plenty  of  summer,  autumn  and  early 
winter ! 

No  longer  was  laughter  heard  in  the  wig 
wams.  The  children  were  everywhere  crying 
for  food ;  their  mothers  in  vain  trying  to  pacify 
them.  There  was  hardly  a  home  in  which  some 
of  the  children  did  not  sicken  and  die.  This 
was  caused  by  hunger,  or  by  eating  food  that, 
in  its  effect  on  the  digestive  organs,  was  as  bad 
as  hunger.  In  their  dire  extremity  they  went 
to  the  pine  trees  and  scraped  thence  a  certain 
moss,  cooked  it  and  fed  it  to  their  children  and 
themselves;  but  it  injured  the  children's  diges 
tion  so  that  many  sickened  and  died.  Others 
collected  the  seedpods  of  last  year's  roses  and, 
scraping  away  the  seeds,  tried  to  live  on  the 
meat  that  formed  the  walls. 

They  had  now  all  become  very  thin  from 
long-continued  fasting,  and  very  weak.  They 
discussed  with  each  other  what  they  could  do  to 
save  themselves.  Some  of  them  might  go  to 
Leech  Lake,  the  nearest  village,  and  ask  for 


THE  OJIBWAY  365 

help.  But  Leech  Lake  was  two  days'  march 
(nearly  sixty  miles)  away.  There  was  no  road 
broken  through  the  deep  snow,  and  it  was 
doubtful  if  any  of  them  had  sufficient  strength 
to  go  on  snow-shoes,  especially  in  the  arctic 
temperature  that  prevailed.  Then  if  they  did 
succeed  in  reaching  it,  could  the  Leech  Lake 
Indians  help  them?  They  were  probably  in 
almost  as  bad  a  plight  themselves,  for  the  same 
causes  which  brought  starvation  upon  them— 
the  disappearance  of  the  animals,  the  impossi 
bility  of  finding  fish,  the  extreme  cold — they 
knew  operated  there  also.  Then  they  knew  that 
the  Leech  Lake  Indians  never  laid  in  a  stock 
of  wild  rice  or  fall  fish  or  raised  any  potatoes 
and  corn,  but  just  what  was  barely  sufficient  for 
their  own  needs  under  most  favorable  circum 
stances,  and  that  they  were  always  at  that  season 
of  the  year  when  it  was  toward  the  end  of 
winter,  on  the  verge  of  starvation.  So  even  if 
they  got  there  alive  it  was  doubtful  if  they  would 
get  any  help. 

They  now  deeply  lamented  not  having  raised 
more  corn  and  potatoes  the  previous  summer, 
which  they  could  very  easily  have  done  by  a  few 
days'  additional  work,  and  which  would  have 
put  them  beyond  the  possibility  of  any  such 
experience  as  this. 

1 '  Oh,  that  I  had  gathered  a  sack  or  two  more 
of  wild  rice,"  said  the  wife  of  Good-Sounding- 
Sky,  "what  would  I  not  give  for  it  now!  I 
could  have  done  it  just  as  easily  as  not,  and 
so  could  every  woman  in  this  village.  I 
could  have  gathered  ten  sacks  where  I  gathered 


366  THE  OJIBWAY 

one,  if  I  had  wanted  to.  Most  of  it  shelled  off 
into  the  water.  But  I  thought  I  had  enough 
to  carry  us  through  till  spring.  I  did  not  think 
of  those  lazy  Leech  Lake  vagabonds  coming 
here  and  eating  up  everything  we  had.  If  I 
live  through  till  spring  I  will  never  be  caught 
in  this  way  again— never  as  long  as  I  live." 

"Yes,"  said  Good-Sounding-Sky,  "if  we  had 
known  that  the  game  was  going  to  disappear  in 
this  way  just  when  we  most  needed  it,  there 
were  a  dozen  ways  that  we  could  have  done,  and 
any  one  of  them  would  have  kept  us  in  plenty. 
You  could  have  killed  thousands  of  fish  last  fall, 
when  it  began  to  freeze  over,  just  as  easily  as 
what  you  did,  for  you  told  me  you  took  four 
hundred  tulibys  every  night.  Or,  as  you  say, 
we  might  have  made  all  the  wild  rice  we  wanted 
to,  for  there  were  unlimited  quantities  of  it,  and 
we  had  nothing  else  to  do.  Or  we  might  have 
raised  all  the  potatoes  and  corn  we  wished.  I 
do  not  think  it  would  have  taken  us  ten  days' 
labor  in  all,  and  then  we  would  have  been  be 
yond  want. 

"But  that  is  the  way  with  the  Indian,"  he 
added  cheerfully.  "He  just  provides  what  will 
barely  do  under  the  most  favorable  circum 
stances,  and  then  if  anything  unusual  occurs, 
as  this  disappearance  of  the  game,  or  anything 
else,  there  he  is !  It  is  the  way  the  Indians  have ; 
it  is  the  way  they  have  been  brought  up.  With 
the  whites  I  hear  it  is  different.  They  provide 
things  in  advance.  And  we  need  not  think  this 
that  we  are  now  suffering  anything  so  unusual, 
for  as  long  as  I  can  remember  I  do  not  think  a 


THE  OJIBWAY  367 

winter  ever  passed  that  this  same  thing  did  not 
take  place  in  some  village  of  Indians.  And 
I  am  sure  I  have  heard,  every  winter,  of  a 
good  many  Indians  starving  to  death  some 
where.  ' ' 

"Well,"  replied  his  wife,  "I  have  told  you 
that  if  I  live  to  see  spring  I  shall  never  get 
caught  in  this  fix  again.  I  shall  cultivate  a 
garden  and  raise  corn  and  potatoes,  and  then  I 
shall  be  beyond  want.  And  it  is  not  for  myself 
I  care  so  much,  though  the  pangs  of  hunger  art? 
hard  to  bear,  but  it  is  the  cries  and  the  appeal 
ing  look  of  that  son  of  ours  that  go  to  my  heart. 
I  do  not  mind  so  much  losing  my  own  life,  but 
I  reproach  myself  with  being  the  cause  of  his 
losing  his.  I  wish  that  at  any  rate  I  had  given 
nothing  to  those  miserable  Leech  Lake  Indians 
when  they  were  here.  What  would  I  not  give 
now  to  have  that  to  feed  to  my  son ! ' ' 

"Oh,  you  talk  just  like  all  the  people  do," 
said  Good-Sounding-Sky.  "How  often  have  I 
heard  the  women  say,  when  the  pinch  of  hunger 
was  on  them,  that  if  they  lived  through  to  an 
other  spring  they  would  raise  corn  and  potatoes. 
But  when  they  had  plenty  the  next  summer 
they  forgot  all  about  it,  and  found  it  far  more 
pleasant  to  lie  on  the  grass  in  the  sun,  or  to 
dance,  than  to  go  and  hoe  in  the  garden." 

By  this  time  the  Indians  were  reduced  to  such 
extremities  that  they  ate  old  moccasins  and 
pieces  of  old  blanket,  anything  to  relieve  the 
dreadful  gnawings  of  hunger.  They  also  held 
many  consultations  with  each  other  about 
organizing  a  party  of  the  strongest  to  endeavor 


368  THE  OJIBWAY 

to  break  through  to  Leech  Lake,  though  they  did 
not  expect  to  find  the  people  there  in  much 
better  condition  than  themselves.  Still  they 
might  get  a  little  corn  if  they  succeeded  in 
reaching  it.  So  on  the  appointed  day  four  of 
the  strongest  ones  were  marshaled  to  start. 
Their  snowshoes  were  repaired  and  they  each 
had  a  handful  of  food  given  them.  They  were 
advised  to  travel  continuously,  night  and  day, 
as  long  as  they  had  an  ounce  of  strength  left,  as 
the  most  likely  way  of  reaching  there  alive. 
Each  man  carried  in  his  bosom  a  piece  of  birch- 
bark  with  which  he  could  make  a  fire  under  any 
circumstances,  for  even  if  plunged  in  the  water 
it  would  at  once  blaze  up  when  a  match  was 
applied  to  it. 

With  many  good  wishes,  therefore,  they  at 
last  started,  all  the  people  of  the  village  viewing 
their  departure  and  calling  words  of  encourage 
ment  after  them.  They  disappeared  from  view, 
and  hopes  were  high  that  relief  would  come. 
But  toward  evening  one  of  them  came  stagger 
ing  back,  more  dead  than  alive,  and  faintly 
reported  that  they  got  along  after  a  fashion 
until  they  reached  a  lake  about  five  miles  away; 
but  when  they  attempted  to  cross  it,  and  were 
no  longer  in  the  shelter  of  the  woods,  the  pierc 
ing  wind,  striking  their  frames  enfeebled  by 
hunger,  so  benumbed  them  that  they  sunk  down 
exhausted  in  the  deep  snow,  and  were  unable 
to  rise,  and  he  was  sure  that  they  perished. 
When  he  left  they  were  still  lying  there  barely 
able  to  speak.  Knowing  that  they  were  proba 
bly  not  alive  by  that  time,  as  it  was  still  so 


THE  OJIBWAY  369 

extremely  cold,  no  effort  was  made  to  rescue 
them,  as  it  would  have  been  useless,  and  would 
only  have  resulted  in  their  own  deaths. 

A  spark  of  hope  from  an  unexpected  source 
now  came  to  them.  Two  French  traders,  on 
their  way  to  a  distant  trading  post,  and  accom 
panied  by  their  train  of  dogs  and  sled,  now 
appeared,  and  asked  to  pass  the  night  in  theitr 
wigwams.  Although  starving,  they  had  man 
aged  to  keep  warm,  for  they  had  strength 
enough  to  crawl  into  the  woods  and  chop  some 
fuel,  and  the  Frenchmen  would  pass  the  night 
much  more  comfortably  sheltered  in  their  wig 
wams  and  sleeping  by  a  good  fire  than  camping 
out  in  the  woods.  They,  therefore,  joyfully  wel 
comed  them,  feeling  sure  that  they  would  get 
some  provisions  from  them,  however  little  it 
might  be,  in  payment  for  the  lodging  afforded. 
When  their  visitors  came  to  take  their  evening 
meal,  with  what  eagerness  did  they  watch  every 
morsel  that  disappeared  down  their  throats! 
But  they  were  given  nothing,  and  in  answer  to 
their  eager  supplication  for  even  a  little  morsel, 
they  were  told  to  wait  till  the  morning,  which 
they  interpreted  to  mean  that  they  would  be 
given  then.  When  the  morning  came  the 
Frenchmen  took  a  meal  of  what  seemed  to  them 
most  delicious  food,  and  then,  gathering  up  all 
the  fragments  and  replacing  them  in  their 
packs,  and  throwing  down  a  small  coin,  which 
was  of  no  use  to  them,  told  them  that  they 
needed  all  the  provisions  they  were  carrying 
with  them  to  enable  them  to  reach  the  place 
where  they  were  going,  and  had  none  to  spare; 


370  THE  OJIBWAY 

and,  then  backing  off  from  them,  and  pointing 
their  guns  toward  them,  commanded  that  not 
one  should  rise  out  of  his  place  or  make  the 
least  motion ;  that  if  any  of  them  did  so  he  was 
certainly  a  dead  man,  for  they  would  fire;  and 
thus  slowly  backing  away,  with  their  guns  still 
pointed  toward  them,  their  guests  disappeared 
out  of  sight,  leaving  them  in  deep  despair.  It 
put  a  severe  strain  on  their  deeply-ingrained 
reverence  for  the  white  man,  and  their  unwill 
ingness  to  rob  or  kill  him,  or  injure  him  in  any 
way,  to  see  those  men,  with  their  packs  of  pro 
visions  that  would  have  kept  their  little  children 
alive,  disappear  from  view. 

There  was  nothing  now  to  do  but  to  return 
to  the  moss  scraped  from  the  pine  tree,  or  to 
gnawing  a  piece  of  blanket.  Death  in  a  horrible 
form  was  slowly  approaching  them  and  their 
loved  ones.  It  aroused  great  searchings  of 
heart.  One  day  The-First-Heavens  and  his  old 
companion,  T raveling- the-Heavens,  met  as  they 
were  crawling  over  the  snow,— too  feeble  to 
walk,— going  to  scrape  some  more  moss  from 
the  trees. 

"You  thought  that  we  had  surmounted  that 
thing, "  said  the  former,  "and  that  we  would 
never  feel  it  again.  But  it  appears  that  it  is 
still  following  us. ' ' 

"Yes,"  returned  his  companion,  "I  thought 
when  we  got  out  of  that  snowbank  that  that  was 
the  end  of  it,  but  it  apepars  not." 

"What  is  going  to  be  the  end  of  it?"  asked 
The-First-Heavens. 

"I  do  not  know,"  said  the  other.     "It  may 


THE  OJIBWAY  371 

overtake  us  and  kill  us  at  last.  It  looks  like  it 
now." 

"I  would  not  mind  dying, "  said  The-First- 
Heavens,  if  it  were  not  for  that  thing  on  my 
mind.  I  have  had  no  happiness  since  that  oc 
curred.  It  keeps  cropping  up  every  once  in  a 
while.  How  is  it  with  you?" 

"Oh,  oftentimes  I  thought  I  had  it  buried 
for  good,  and  then  something  occurred  that 
brought  it  right  up  again.  I  have  found  out 
that  it  is  not  a  dead  thing.  It  is  very  much 
alive." 

"Yes,"  said  The-First-Heavens,  "we  both 
thought,  perhaps,  that  we  had  got  rid  of  it  after 
that  blizzard,  when  lo  and  behold!  this  famine 
comes,  and  it  rises  up  and  flies  in  our  faces  once 
more.  Now,  when  we  are  near  death,  we  can 
think  of  nothing  else." 

"You  lost  your  girl,  did  you  not?"  inquired 
T raveling- the-Heavens.  "I  mean  old  Ogema's 
daughter?" 

"Yes,"  sadly  replied  the  other.  "When  I 
came  back  she  looked  at  me,  examined  me  with 
her  eyes  carefully  for  a  long  time  and  then  said 
I  was  not  the  man  she  thought  I  was ;  that  some 
thing  had  come  over  me,  she  didn't  know  what. 
But  she  would  not  have  me. ' ' 

"I  do  not  think  any  of  the  other  people  here 
suffer  as  badly  as  we,"  said  his  companion. 
"They  have  only  sufferings  of  the  body;  but 
in  addition  to  sufferings  of  the  body,  we  have 
of  the  mind,  so  we  have  double. 

"There  are  some  of  them  here,"  said  The- 
First-Heavens,  "who  suffer  somewhat  as  we  do, 


372  THE  OJIBWAY 

but  none  so  badly,  for  I  think  that  we  are  the 
most  unhappy  pair  in  the  whole  world.  There 
is  Red-sky-of-the-morning,  I  am  sure  she  sees 
the  face  of  that  Sioux  girl  again.  Do  you  re 
member  how  she  felt  in  the  snow-cave  V9 

"Yes,"  I  remember  it,"  returned  Traveling- 
the-Heavens, "  but  hers  is  a  light  trouble  to 
what  is  on  us.  And  "The  Sioux"  is  here.  You 
just  be  sure  he  has  some  bad  turns,  though  he 
does  not  show  it  outwardly.  Since  I  have  done 
that  thing  and  have  it  on  my  mind,  I  seem  to 
know  those  that  are  in  a  like  condition.  Some 
thing  teaches  me  so  that  I  recognize  them.  I 
inwardly  say  when  I  come  near  them,  'So  you, 
too,  are  in  this  pit!  You  are  another  unhappy 
wretch  like  me. !  ' ' 

"I  would  give  all  the  world  to  be  like  one  of 
the  people  that  do  not  have  our  trouble,"  said 
The-First-Heavens,  "even  if  they  are  starving 
to  death.  That  1  could  stand.  I  envy  every 
one  of  them,  though  he  is  gnawing  an  old  moc 
casin  !  I  think  to  myself,  i  I  wish  I  could  change 
places  with  you ! ' 

"I  wish  Sha-bosh-kunk  had  been  dead  before 
he  proposed  that  thing  to  us,"  said  Traveling- 
the-Heavens.  It  was  a  black  day  for  us,  the 
day  we  went  with  him.  I  said  before  I  did  that 
thing  that  I  should  never  be  a  happy  man  again ; 
and  it  is  even  so.  When  I  think  I  am  done 
with  it  something  always  turns  it  up  afresh." 

"What  is  going  to  be  the  end  of  it  I"  inquired 
The-First-Heavens. 

"There  is  never  going  to  be  any  end  to  it," 
replied  his  companion.  "It  follows  us  in  this 


THE  OJIBWAY  373 

world,  and  if  we  could  manage  to  go  under  the 
earth  it  would  follow  us  there;  and  if  we  went 
to  what  the  Christians  call  The-Bad-Fire  (hell), 
I  believe  it  would  follow  us  there.  Sha-bosh- 
kunk  has  ruined  us. ' ' 

"He  does  not  seem  to  have  any  trouble  about 
it,"  said  The-First-Heavens. 

"  No,  he  has  no  trouble  about  anything.  Noth 
ing  troubles  him.  He  is  hard  as  a  stone, "  an 
swered  his  companion. 

"Did  you  see  all  that  he  did  about  being  the 
Son  of  God,  and  about  those  horses?" 

"Yes,  I  saw  it  all.  Since  that  happened  to 
us  I  seem  to  be  inside  of  him  and  know  every 
move  he  makes,  almost  before  he  begins  it." 

"Well,  I  hope  I  shall  get  out  of  this  alive," 
said  The-First  Heavens, ' i  for  I  do  not  feel  ready 
to  die.  And  yet  I  do  not  see  any  use  in  my  liv 
ing,  for  I  shall  always  be  miserable,  just  as  I  am 
now." 

This  melancholy  conference  ended,  they  each 
dragged  themselves  to  a  tree  to  scrape  a  little 
of  the  wretched  substance  which  alone  kept  them 
alive. 

Red-sky-of-the-morning  sat  in  her  wigwam, 
little  knowing  the  conversation  that  had  taken 
place  about  her.  She  was  trying  to  quiet  some 
of  her  children  who  were  crying  of  hunger,  but 
it  was  an  impossible  task.  Only  one  thing 
would  quiet  them— food,  and  she  had  none.  She 
had  to  watch  one  loved  child  sicken,  its  digestive 
organs  ruined  by  the  wretched  moss;  she  had 
to  watch  the  mysterious  approach  of  death  upon 
its  little  face.  As  the  features  became  pinched 


374  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  drawn  it  brought  to  her  mind  the  last  dying 
face  she  had  looked  upon,  that  of  the  Sioux  girl. 
In  her  own  mind  she  connected  one  with  the 
other,  and  it  was  somehow  borne  in  upon  her 
that  that  child  of  hers  had  to  die  because  the 
Sioux  girl  died.  Nay,  that  she  was  the  cause 
of  the  child's  death  because  she  had  caused  the 
death  of  the  girl.  She  made  mental  notes  of 
comparison  between  the  signs  of  approaching 
dissolution  as  they  appeared  one  after  the  other 
in  the  face  of  the  child  in  her  lap,  and  those 
of  the  last  dying  person  she  saw.  Her  mind  was 
all  afire,  and  she  dreaded  that  this  was  not  all, 
nor  the  last.  She  had  other  hungry  children. 
Would  they  all  have  to  go?  Must  the  death  of 
that  Sioux  girl  be  atoned  for  by  the  loss  of  all 
her  children  ?  Did  her  sin  require  such  heavy  ex 
piation?  Was  it  right  that  so  many  should  go 
for  one?  She,  too,  when  she  got  out  of  the 
snow-cave,  got  out  with  a  joyful  heart,  feeling 
that  she  had  left  that  tragedy  behind  and  that 
it  would  never  rise  again  to  trouble  her.  She 
had  not  thought  of  it  since;  that  is,  not  with 
any  particular  regret  or  fear,  but  now  looking 
into  the  face  of  her  dying  child  it  came  back 
upon  her  with  all  its  terror.  She  then  was  re 
sponsible  for  the  death  of  her  child!— that  was 
the  terrible  thought  that  came  to  her.  Oh,  by 
what  a  terrible  fate  was  she  pursued !  She  felt 
that  in  committing  that  act  she  had  given  birth 
to  a  terrible  monster  who  was  pursuing  her, 
and  had  just  seized  one  of  her  innocent  little 
children!  And  not  only  so,  but  stood  there 
threatening  to  seize  the  others,  and  herself,  too ! 


THE  OJIBWAY  375 

And,  worst  of  all  she  was  utterly  powerless  to 
avert  it!  All  she  could  do  was  to  stand  and 
wait  and  see  one  victim  after  another  fall  a 
prey  to  something  inexorable.  And  no  one  could 
help  her  in  this  trouble.  She  must  bear  it  all 
alone.  She  could  not  even  tell  her  husband  what 
she  believed  was  the  cause  of  it,  for  that  would 
only  cause  a  terrible  explosion  of  his  wrath  upon 
her  as  the  cause  of  his  losing  his  children.  So 
she  must  confine  it  within  her  own  bursting 
heart.  Oh,  how  unutterably  miserable  she  felt! 
Then  her  mind  went  to  the  time  when  she  her 
self  would  lie  as  her  child  was  then— dying. 
She  asked  herself,  Could  she  die?— she  knew 
it  was  coming.  And  she  had  to  answer  that  she 
could  not !  Something  was  on  her  mind,  on  her 
heart,  and  with  that  there  she  could  not  die! 

Though  life  would  be  unspeakably  dreary, 
insupportable,  if  she  lost  all  her  children,  as  it 
now  seemed  she  would,  death  was  worse.  She 
could  not  die!  She  felt  that  she  was  not  ready 
to  die.  And  she  felt  that  she  never  would  be 
ready.  There  was  nothing  that  she  could  do  that 
she  knew  of,  or  had  ever  heard  of,  to  make  her 
ready.  Death  was  with  her,  about  her,  and  it 
forced  her  to  think  of  all  these  things.  Her 
thoughts  flew  very  swiftly  during  those  hours 
when  her  child  was  lying  on  her  knee ;  and  they 
explored  her  heart,  and  time  and  eternity,  so 
far  as  she  knew  it.  They  searched  all  deep 
inward  things  in  her  soul,  and  brought  out  into 
clear  light  things  long  half -hidden  or  before  but 
partially  comprehended.  Death  was  to  her  an 
illuminator  of  the  mysteries  of  her  own  being; 


376  THE  OJIBWAY 

of  things  past,  of  the  present,  and  of  things  to 
come.  And  it  was  an  illumination  that  filled 
her  with  alarm  and  made  her  more  than  ever 
unhappy.  It  was  therefore  with  a  feeling  that 
she  was  bearing  a  load  that  was  almost  greater 
than  she  could  sustain,  that  she  at  last  laid  down 
the  little  one  and  composed  its  limbs  when  it 
had  breathed  its  last;  and  then  turned  herself 
to  try  and  pacify  the  hungry  and  crying  ones 
of  her  brood  that  remained. 

To  add  to  the  deep  depression  that  now  lay 
heavy  on  the  starving  people,  horrible  tales  be 
gan  coming  to  them  from  one  quarter  and  an 
other.  One  day  a  hunter  of  their  village,  who 
had  been  wintering  with  his  family  at  a  small 
lake  not  far  off,  entered  one  of  their  wigwams, 
and  in  answer  to  the  kindly  inquiry  how  his 
children  were,  mournfully  answered  that  he  no 
longer  had  any  children. 

"A  short  time  ago  when  this  famine  began  to 
threaten, "  he  said,  "I  had  three  children  living 
with  me.  I  entrusted  them  to  my  married 
daughter  living  some  distance  from  me,  at  her 
request,  she  telling  me  that  she  had  plenty  of 
food  and  would  bring  them  safely  through  the 
winter.  I  hear  they  are  all  dead  now,"  he 
said  mournfully,  "and  I  know  that  they  have 
been  killed  and  eaten  by  ray  daughter.  She 
came  this  morning  into  the  wigwam  where  my 
wife  and  I  were,  with  a  knife  in  her  hand,  in 
tending  to  kill  us;  but  my  wife  caught  her  by 
the  hair  as  she  put  her  head  in  the  door,  and 
held  her,  and  I  cut  off  her  head  with  the  ax." 

When  people— any  people,  no  matter  of  what 


THE  OJIBWAY  377 

nation,  and  probably  there  is  no  difference  be 
tween  the  nations— are  starving  and  see  death 
approaching  they  lose  command  of  themselves, 
a  sort  of  delirium  seizes  them ;  they  become  cal 
lous,  and  hear  things  with  indifference  that  at 
other  times  would  freeze  the  marrow  in  their 
bones,  and  do  things  that  at  other  times  they 
would  not  have  believed  it  possible  they  could 
do.  We  draw  a  veil  over  the  things  that  hap 
pened  during  the  long  slow  agony  when  that  lit 
tle  community  was  starving. 

One  day  at  this  time  there  came  into  the  wig 
wam  of  one  of  the  women  of  the  village,  Med- 
wewedjiwunoque  ( The-woman-of-the-sound-of- 
the-rapids),  a  poor  little  boy  of  very  pitiful  as 
pect.  He  was  about  ten  years  of  age  dressed 
in  an  old  dirty  boy's  blanket,  thin  cotton  leg 
gings,  black  with  dirt,  and  moccasins.  He  tim 
idly  sat  down  by  the  fire,  or  rather,  as  it  seemed, 
sunk  down  through  weakness,  for  he  was  unable 
to  stand.  His  poor  pinched  face  showed  that 
he  was  very  nearly  starved,  as  did  his  poor 
wasted  little  body.  He  said  nothing,  for  he  was 
too  weak  to  speak.  But  his  wistful  eyes  made 
an  appeal  to  the  heart  of  Sound-of-the-rapids 
woman  that  she  found  it  hard  to  resist  and  al 
though  she  and  her  family  were  almost  starving 
themselves,  with  womanly  kindness  she  took  a 
little  of  the  last  food  there  was  left  in  the  wig 
wam,  put  it  in  a  birch-bark  dish,  and  gave  it 
to  the  poor  little  boy.  He  took  a  little  of  it  in 
his  poor  wasted  little  hand  and  put  it  to  his 
mouth  and  chewed  it  a  little,  then  he  fell  over 
in  a  dead  faint.  The  Sound-of-the-rapids  worn- 


378  THE  OJIBWAY 

an  now  made  an  examination  of  him  to  see 
what  was  the  matter  and  found  that  his  legs  and 
feet  were  frozen  solid  from  the  knees  down. 
They  were  as  hard  as  rocks,  and  as  cold  as  ice. 
They  seemed  to  have  been  frozen  for  some  time. 
She  called  the  members  of  her  family  to  assist 
her,  and  after  a  while  they  succeeded  in  reviv 
ing  him  and  getting  from  him  his  pitiful  story. 
He  was  Ke-zhe-ka-nunk  (The-swiftly-flying- 
star),  an  orphan,  both  father  and  mother  being 
dead,  and  he  had  been  out  hunting  about  a  day's 
march  from  the  village,  with  his  grandfather 
and  grandmother, — Quenubi-gi-zhick  (Sky- turn 
ing-upside-down),  and  Niganwewedumok  (The- 
woman  -who-  goes  -ahead  -and  -makes  -a  -shout 
ing)  .  They  had  been  there  about  a  month,  wait 
ing  for  an  opportunity  to  come  home.  But  the 
snow  was  too  deep,  there  was  no  road,  and  they 
had  no  snow-shoes,  and  almost  no  food.  They 
could  not  find  rabbits  or  game  of  any  kind. 
Finally  his  grandfather  said  to  him : 

"My  grandson,  your  grandmother  and  I  will 
die  here.  We  are  old  and  cannot  make  our 
way  to  the  village,  for  we  have  no  food  and 
are  almost  dead  already.  But  you  are  young; 
you  have  long  to  live.  Save  yourself,  my  grand 
child  ;  do  what  I  tell  you.  Here  is  a  rabbit,  the 
only  food  I  have.  I  give  it  to  you  to  save  your 
life.  Go  in  such  a  direction. "  (Here  he  gave 
him  instructions  about  the  road.)  "Generally 
the  snow  is  too  deep  and  too  soft,  and  you  have 
no  snow-shoes.  Crawl  on  your  stomach  where 
you  cannot  get  through  any  other  way.  Now 


THE  OJIBWAY  379 

go  and  save  yourself,  your  grandmother  and  I 
will  die  here." 

The  little  boy  obeyed  his  directions,  and,  urg 
ed  on  by  the  love  of  life,  did  barely  succeed  in 
reaching  the  village  and  went  into  the  first  wig 
wam  he  came  to,  which  happened  to  be  that  of 
Sound-of-the-rapids  woman.  There  was  no  phy 
sician,  but  nature  in  her  own  gradual  way  per 
formed  the  amputation  of  both  his  legs  below 
the  knee,  after  a  period  of  most  intense  suffer 
ing  to  him.  Thenceforth  he  walked  upon  his 
knees,  with  the  protruding  bones  of  his  legs  pro 
jecting  out  behind.  His  grandfather  and  grand 
mother  died  where  he  left  them,  and  he,  a  poor 
maimed  boy,  was  the  sole  survivor  of  the  family. 
Such  were  the  tales  and  sights  of  misery  which 
from  every  side  came  to  the  afflicted  commu 
nity. 

The  severe  cold  still  continued,  and  it  aggra 
vated  their  sufferings,  for  they  had  very  little 
clothing,  and  in  their  enfeebled  condition  the 
extreme  cold  took  hold  of  them  more.  The  snow 
continued  as  deep  as  ever,— about  three  feet  on 
a  level,— making  it  impossible  to  go  anywhere 
except  on  snow  shoes;  and  in  their  emaciated 
state  they  had  not  strength  enough  to  travel. 
The  game  still  continued  absent,  and  even  if 
there  had  been  any  they  no  longer  had  strength 
to  pursue  it.  They  tried  as  before  to  spear  fish 
in  their  lake,  hovering  over  holes  cut  in  the  ice ; 
but  it  was  difficult  to  reach  the  water,  covered 
as  it  was  with  the  great  depth  of  ice,  and  the 
snow  on  top  of  that.  And  although  they  perse 
vered  faithfully,  and  spent  hours  at  a  time  gaz- 


380  THE  OJIBWAY 

ing  down  that  funnel  of  a  hole  into  the  water 
beneath,  no  fish  were  to  be  found.  The  fish  had 
not  yet  begun  to  run.  Even  they,  like  every 
thing  else,  seemed  to  have  gone  into  a  condition 
of  torpor  during  the  severe  cold  and  remained 
in  some  place  out  of  sight. 

So  there  was  the  community  slowly  starving 
to  death.  Day  by  day  the  number  of  bodies 
resting  in  the  limbs  of  trees  about  their  village 
increased,  though  the  survivors  had  hardly 
strength  enough  to  carry  them  there.  No  longer 
was  laughter  heard  from  any  wigwam.  Laugh 
ter  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  Instead,  the  cry 
ing  of  starving  children  was  the  sound  that  one 
heard  from  every  wigwam.  Many  of  the  men 
and  women  blackened  their  faces  in  token  of 
sorrow.  It  was  a  despairing  little  community. 

There  was  only  one  thing  to  which  they  looked 
forward  that  afforded  a  ray  of  hope,  and  that 
was  the  coming  of  spring.  Spring  would  relax 
the  iron  grip  of  cold  in  which  they  were  held. 
Spring  would  bring  abundance  of  natural  food 
of  all  lands.  The  fish  would  once  more  run  in 
the  lake,  and  they  could  spear  them  through  the 
ice.  The  little  creeks  emptying  into  the  lake 
would  be  full  of  fish— they  could  shovel  them  out 
with  their  hands.  The  water  below  would 
swarm  with  food ;  so  would  the  air  above.  Ducks 
and  birds  of  all  kinds  would  come  sailing  in  on 
the  warm  southern  breeze,  and  they  could  shoot 
them  if  they  were  alive.  But  would  spring  ever 
come  and  would  any  of  them  be  alive  when  it 
did— that  was  the  question  they  anxiously  dis 
cussed.  As  they  had  no  way  of  knowing  what 


THE  OJIBWAY  381 

time  of  the  year  it  was  but  by  the  moons,  and  as 
these  came  to  the  full  any  time  during  the 
month,  they  were  in  great  perplexity  which 
moon  was  then  shining,  and  consequently  how 
long  it  would  be  till  spring. 

Some  maintained  that  they  had  kupt  an  ac 
curate  account  of  the  moons  beginning  with 
Gushkudino-gizis.  ( The-moon-of-the-f  reezing- 
over-of- the- waters— November),  which  afforded 
a  sure  starting  point,  and  that  the  moon  now 
shining  was  Onabuni-gizis  (The-moon-of-the- 
c rust-on- the-snow— March).  If  that  were  so, 
spring  would  comej  with  the  next  moon  that 
would  shine,  Beboquedagimink  ( The-moon-of  - 
the-breaking-of-snow-shoes,  so  called  because  the 
snow  being  on  the  ground  in  some  places,  and 
thawed  off  in  others  by  the  sun,  the  snow-shoes 
were  broken  by  traveling  partly  on  snow  and 
partly  on  bare  ground).  This  opinion  was  com 
bated  by  others,  who  maintained  that  they  had 
kept  an  equally  accurate  count  of  the  moons,— 
had  marked  them  with  notches  on  a  stick  they 
said,— and  that  the  moon  now  shining  was  Na- 
mebini-gizis  (The-moon-of -suckers— February) . 
As  a  proof,  they  adduced  the  fact  that  there 
was  yet  no  crust  on  the  snow,  which  there  would 
have  been  had  it  been  Onabuni-gizis,  and  that 
the  cold  was  still  severe.  This  opinion,  that  it 
was  the  moon  of  suckers,  threw  them  into  de 
spair.  They  realized  that  if  that  were  so  not 
one  of  them  would  live  to  see  the  spring;  that 
all  that  would  remain  of  their  village  would  be 
rotting  corpses  lying  around. 

Although  they  did  not  expect  an  affirmative 


382  THE  OJIBWAY 

answer,  indeed,  knew  that  it  was  impossible, 
there  was  one  question  that  instinctively  rose  to 
the  lips  of  all  of  them  and  which  they  found 
themselves  continually  asking,  even  while  they 
knew  the  foolishness  of  it,  "Have  you  seen  or 
heard  a  crow?"  The  crow  is  the  first  bird  to 
arrive  from  the  south.  His  coming  announces 
that  the  long  reign  of  winter  is  over,  and  his 
"caw-caw"  proclaims  that  there  is  a  long  pro 
cession  of  birds  of  all  kinds  following  him, 
bringing  food— themselves— for  the  Ojibways. 
When  the  Ojibway  hears  him  he  knows  that  he 
has  survived  the  starvation  of  the  latter  part 
of  winter,  which  is  always  their  time  of  extreme 
scarcity,  and  has  lived  to  see  the  abundance  of 
spring.  Oh,  how  his  heart  beats  when  he  first 
sees  the  crow,  or  hears  his  joyful  "caw-caw !" 

He  purposely  betakes  himself  to  the  nearest 
wigwam,  and  in  answer  to  the  question  that  is 
sure  to  be  asked  if  he  has  seen  or  heard  a  crow, 
modestly  replies  that  he  has.  That  he  heard  him 
and  saw  him  when  he  was  walking  in  such  a 
place,  when  the  sun  was  ' l  so  high. "  It  is  loudly 
repeated  by  the  good  woman  of  the  house  that 
the  crows  have  come,  and  then  she  runs  to  the 
wigwam  of  her  dearest  gossip  to  be  the  bearer  of 
such  good  news !  She  is  the  most  welcome  visi 
tor  there  has  been  in  that  wigwam  for  a  year. 

So  the  crow  is  the  great-grandmother  of  the 
Ojibway,  assuring  him  that  he  has  escaped  star 
vation  one  more  winter ;  that  soft  blue  skies  and 
southern  breezes  are  at  hand.  He  corrects  his 
almanac,  however  astray  he  may  have  got  in 
his  calculations,  and  however  confused  as  to 


THE  OJIBWAY  383 

what  moon  is  shining  now,  for  he  puts  the  stamp 
of  Onabuni-gizis  on  it,  and  he  knows  that  the 
next  moon  will  bring  him  the  delicious  maple 
sugar,  as  well  as  all  other  good  things. 

So  the  days  dragged  wearily  on,  and  there 
were  no  signs  either  of  a  crust  on  the  snow  or 
of  a  crow,  and  the  emaciated  people  were  look 
ing  forward  to  death  by  starvation,  which 
seemed  almost  certain,  when  one  day  they  were 
startled  by  loud  shouts  to  the  southward.  They 
crept  out,  as  rapidly  as  their  feeble  strength 
would  admit,  to  see  what  this  unexpected  thing 
was.  The  shouts  kept  coming  nearer  and  nearer 
and  soon  trains  of  dogs  came  in  sight,  dragging 
heavily-loaded  sleds  behind  them.  Urging  the 
dogs  forward  were  men  on  snow-shoes,  and  con 
spicuous  among  them  by  his  great  height  was 
the  missionary,  Breck,  also  on  snow-shoes. 
There  was  no  road  broken,  and  they  had  adopt 
ed  the  only  means  of  conveyance  that  would  do. 
Besides  the  sled  loads,  many  of  the  snow- 
shoers,  Breck  included,  carried  great  packs  on 
their  backs,  suspended  by  packing-straps  round 
their  shoulders. 

"Food,  food!"  they  joyfully  cried,  from  as 
far  as  they  could  be  heard,  to  the  company  of 
skeletons  who  had  crawled  out  to  look  at  them. 
Oh,  what  joy  filled  them  when  it  finally  pene 
trated  their  intellects  that  there  was  food !  The 
call  of  the  crow  is  cheering,  but  nothing  to  this ! 
In  one  minute  a  sea  of  joy  rolled  in  upon  their 
souls.  What  had  been  a  minute  before  the  most 
despairing  company  in  the  whole  world,  was 
now  perhaps  the  happiest.  They  were  not  to 


384  THE  OJIBWAY 

die,  but  to  live !  .Their  distress  was  all  forgot 
ten,  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  only  bliss  in  its 
place !  Mothers  picked  up  and  frantically  hug 
ged  and  kissed  their  emaciated  babies,  and  told 
them  they  should  eat  all  they  wanted  to.  Some, 
looking  at  the  trains,  broke  down  and  wept  for 
joy.  Some  threw  themselves  on  the  missionary 
and  the  packers  when  they  had  come  near 
enough,  and  cried:  "You  have  saved  us,  you 
have  saved  us!"  These,  though  rough  men  of 
the  frontier,  and  the  missionary,  were  almost  as 
much  affected  as  they;  and  some  of  them  were 
so  much  touched  by  the  sight  of  the  starving 
company  before  them,  and  by  their  deep  joy, 
that  they  shed  tears.  Some  of  them  literally 
"lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept,"  while  more, 
with  their  coat  sleeves,  wiped  the  tears  out  of 
their  eyes. 

But  this  season  of  rejoicing  must  pass,  there 
was  something  better  coming,  participation. 
Some  packs  were  hastily  opened,  the  precious 
food  brought  out.  They  were  going  to  devour  it 
just  as  it  was,  but  the  wise  missionary  hindered 
them.  Great  fires  were  made  by  the  strong  voy- 
ageurs;  pots  and  kettles  were  brought  out,  and 
hung  over  them,  and  filled  with  the  tempting 
food;  and  soon  savory  steams  filled  the  air  with 
perfumes  that  was  more  delicious  than  that  of 
summer  roses.  A  cracker  was  warily  handed 
round  to  each  by  the  missionary  to  stay  their  hun 
ger  till  the  food  could  be  prepared,  and  when  it 
was  they  had,  what  they  had  not  had  in  months,  a 
good  meal !  The  little  children  could  hardly  be 
restrained  while  the  food  was  cooking,  but  by 


THE  OJIBWAY  385 

many  promises  of  all  they  could  eat  by  and  by, 
and  a  few  mouthfuls  of  crackers,  they  were.  Oh 
what  a  feast  was  that !  Food  of  all  kinds,  and  in 
the  most  concentrated  form.  Beans,  rice,  flour, 
beef,  venison.  And  there  was  hot  tea,  which 
they  loved  so  much,  and  a  new  luxury  which  till 
then  they  had  never  known,  but  which  they  fully 
appreciated.  It  was  coffee,  for  which,  having 
no  name,  they  made  a  name  expressing  its  es 
sential  characteristics,  calling  it  "mukude- 
mushkiki-wabo  " —black  medicine-liquid.  Black, 
from  its  color;  medicine,  for  it  seemed  to  have 
some  mysterious  supernatural  stimulating  prop 
erties  ;  and  liquid  from  its  form. 

When  repletion  came,  as  much  as  the  mission 
ary  saw  it  to  be  wise  to  indulge  them  in,  there 
followed  a  period  of  mutual  felicitations.  They 
told  some  of  the  things  they  had  suffered;  but 
would  break  off  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence  to 
inquire  how  they  came  to  be  relieved.  That  was 
soon  told.  The  French  traders,  who  had  en 
joyed  their  hospitality  but  given  them  nothing, 
probably  because  they  could  not,  and  who  had 
backed  away  from  them  with  pointed  guns,  had 
nevertheless  reported  their  starving  condition 
at  the  distant  trading-post  to  which  they  went. 
Thence  the  news  had  been  carried  to  another  dis 
tant  post  where  the  missionary  happened  to  be 
wintering,  and  he,  realizing  that  they  would 
probably  all  die  if  food  was  not  taken  to  them, 
with  energy  set  to  work  to  relieve  them.  With 
some  money  of  his  own,  and  pledging  his  credit 
to  the  owners  of  the  trading-post,— a  credit 
which  they  knew  to  be  as  good  as  the  money,— 


386  THE  OJIBWAY 

I 

he  procured  the  most  concentrated  foods  he 
could  find;  then  hired  the  French  voyageurs 
who  were  accustomed  to  carry  packs  of  fur?  in 
the  winter  from  one  trading-post  to  another  with 
their  dog-sleds,  loaded  the  provisions,  put  some 
in  packs,  to  be  carried  by  the  experienced  snow- 
shoers,  and  took  a  pack  on  his  back  himself  and 
accompanied  them.  Neither  horses,  nor  any 
other  kind  of  power  used  by  civilized  man,  were 
of  any  use  in  the  unbroken  tract  of  snow  which 
lay  between  him  and  Gull  Lake,  but  dogs  were 
just  the  thing.  So  they  traveled,  snow-shoeing 
day  after  day;  camping  out  every  night,  keep 
ing  themselves  warm  by  great  fires.  Each  man 
had  his  blankets  in  which  he  slept,  which  in  the 
day  time  were  strapped  on  the  sleds.  The  men 
were  hardy,  bearded  fellows,  brought  up  among 
the  snows  of  Eastern  Canada,  and  dressed  in  the 
picturesque  costume  so  dear  to  the  French  Ca 
nadian.  There  was  the  woolen  cap  of  bright  red 
with  its  tassel  falling  to  one  side ;  the  coat,  with 
the  hood  behind,  which  in  storms  was  put  over 
the  head,  enveloping  it;  there  was  the  red  and 
blue  sash  around  the  waist,  the  ends  depending 
downward  to  the  knee ;  there  were  the  leggings 
fastened  by  a  bright  colored  band  above  the 
calf;  there  were  the  moose-hide  moccasins.  They 
had  the  cherry,  jolly  abandon  by  which  they  so 
soon  made  themselves  at  home  with  the  "  sav 
ages.  " 

Before  they  went  to  their  wigwams  at  the  con 
clusion  of  the  feast,  one  of  the  Ojibway's  Aki- 
wad  j-agindunk  ( He-who-grew-up-along-with- 
the-earth— that  is,  when  the  earth  was  young 


THE  OJIBWAY  387 

he  was  young,  and  as  the  earth  kept  growing 
up  he  kept  growing  up),  expressed  their  feelings 
to  the  missionary  in  a  little  address : 

"You  have  saved  our  lives, "  he  said,  "by 
bringing  these  provisions,  hiring  these  men  and 
dog-teams,  and  coming  up  here.  None  of  our 
own  relatives  would  have  done  it;  but  you,  a 
stranger,  have  done  it.  We  owe  our  lives  to 
you.  I  do  not  think  there  would  have  been  one 
living  when  spring  comes  if  you  had  not  done 
this.  We  thank  you,  we  thank  you." 

The  voyageurs  and  the  missionary  were  taken 
into  the  wigwams  where  they  slept  warm  and 
comfortable  for  the  first  time  in  many  nights. 
And  soon  there  were  sounds  that  had  not  been 
heard  for  a  long  time— the  sounds  of  laughter 
and  jollity.  They  were  filled  with  thankfulness 
that  their  long  sufferings  were  at  an  end;  that 
relief  had  come  in  such  an  unexpected  way, 
and  that  the  issue  of  all  was  life  and  not  death. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  CONTEST. 

When  the  warm  summer  suns  again  shone 
over  Gull  Lake  there  was  a  change  in  the  con 
dition  of  the  people.  With  the  spring  had  come 
abundance  of  natural  food— geese,  ducks,  birds 
of  all  sorts ;  and  swarms  of  fish,  which  filled  the 
creeks  and  rivers.  With  abundant  and  good 
food  the  people  had  fully  recovered  their  health 
and  spirits.  Men  and  women  were  again  sturdy, 
fresh  and  vigorous.  Cheerfulness  had  returned 
with  bodily  health.  The  horrors  of  the  starving 
time  had  receded  into  the  caverns  of  memory,  and 
only  the  abundance  of  the  present  was  thought 
of.  As  the  little  birds  perched  in  the  trees 
thought  not  of  the  storms  and  pinching  of  win 
ter  when  they  were  cowering  to  find  a  shelter 
from  the  icy  blast,  but  only  felt  the  joy  of  sum 
mer  by  which  they  were  surrounded  and  sang  of 
it,— so  it  was  with  them.  Joy  filled  all  nature 
around,  and  its  influence  reached  even  to  them. 
The  victims  of  the  famine  were  buried— so  were 
the  memories  of  their  own  sufferings.  Even 
those  who  had  passed  away  were  thought  of 
with  a  softened  feeling,  in  which  there  was  no 
bitterness. 

There  was  one  new  figure,  and  one  new  phase 
of  activity  in  the  village.  The  new  figure  was 
the  missionary,  Breck,  who  had  remained  with 


THE  OJIBWAY  389 

them.  The  new  activity  was  a  large  field,  or 
farm,  which  he  had  opened  in  the  edge  of  their 
village.  He  had  brought  oxen  there  and  plough 
ed  the  ground ;  had  brought  seed  and  called  on 
them  to  help  him  plant  it,  and  offered  to  show 
them  the  way.  It  was  explained  to  them  that 
whatever  they  raised  would  be  given  to  them, 
and  they  were  told  that  with  a  very  little  labor 
on  their  part  such  disasters  as  that  of  the  past 
winter  need  never  be  feared  again.  The  seed 
and  the  breaking  of  the  land  were  a  present 
from  him;  all  they  were  required  to  do  was  to 
put  to  a  little  labor,  and  that  for  themselves. 

This  then  could  now  be  daily  seen  in  their 
village,  in  the  beginning  of  the  beautiful  sum 
mer  :  The  missionary  out  in  the  field ;  perhaps 
at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  air  was 
sweetest,  purest,— the  most  lovely  time  of  the 
day,— surrounded  by  the  Indians  whom  he  had 
called  from  their  wigwams;  all  busily  engaged 
in  planting,  hoeing,  and  all  the  varied  parts  of 
gardening,  under  his  direction.  He  saw  clearly 
that  it  would  not  be  enough  to  teach  them  to 
believe  in  God — he  must  give  them  something  to 
do;  something  that  would  be  useful,  elevating; 
and  that  would  call  off  their  minds  and  atten 
tion  from  evil  things.  He  saw  that  it  was  not 
enough  that  the  Devil  be  cast  out,  leaving  a  va< 
cuum  into  which  he  would  be  sure  to  return  in 
one  shape  or  other ;  but  that  that  vacuum  must 
be  filled  with  something  positively  good,  to  keep 
him  out,  that  his  exclusion  might  be  permanent. 
That  positive  good  was,  he  saw,  the  belief  and 
practice  of  the  Gospel  and  honest  labor. 


390  THE  OJIBWAY 

It  was  an  interesting  sight  to  see  him  there 
amongst  them— hoeing,  planting,  working  hard 
er  than  any  of  them,  and  directing  all.  He  was 
a  very  spiritual  man ;  but  he  was  also  a  perfect 
gardener.  He  had  been  trained  to  it  in  his 
youth ;  and  as  he  now  saw,  providentially.  With 
out  that  part  his  work  would  have  been  very 
halting.  Honest  daily  labor— something  to  take 
up  their  minds  from  Sioux-killing,  and  degrad 
ing  heathen  dances,  was  the  necessary  comple 
ment  to  believing  in  God  and  His  Gospel. 

It  was  no  sour  and  doleful  company  that 
worked  that  field.  Laughter  and  jokes  re 
sounded  on  every  hand.  There  was  mutual 
confidence  and  mutual  love  between  teacher 
and  taught.  Each  had  forgotten  that  the 
other  was  of  a  different  color,  of  a  different 
race.  They  were  all  human,  and  were  fused  in 
one  on  that  broad  base.  They  were  also  mem 
bers  of  the  same  village,— for  he  had  now  come 
to  live  there,— so  in  that  regard  they  were  one; 
and  besides,  they  were  necessary  to  each  other. 
Very  much  they  could  not  do  for  themselves— 
for  much  they  must  depend  on  him.  But  they 
were  equally  necessary  to  him  in  many  ways. 
In  many  ways  also  they  were  his  superiors— 
they  the  teachers  and  he  the  one  to  be  taught. 
In  the  mastery  of  a  beautiful,  but  most  difficult 
language,  which  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
know ;  in  their  knowledge  of  the  whole  book  of 
nature— plants,  animals,  the  sky,  the  earth,  the 
water;  things  above,  around,  and  beneath.  In 
all  these  things  he  realized  that  they  were  mas 
ters,  and  he  and  his  race  very  humble  learners, 


THE  OJIBWAY  391 

sitting  a  long  way  off.  All  the  common  things, 
but  things  absolutely  necessary  for  living  in  that 
country,  they  knew  far  better  than  he,  better 
than  his  race— hunting,  fishing,  traveling,  camp 
ing,  making  canoes,  gathering  rice,  protection 
against  the  cold,  the  habits  of  animals,  of  fishes, 
the  ways  of  making  a  living. 

Striking  the  balance  between  them,  then,  they 
were  about  equal;  he  with  weight  on  the  spirit 
ual  side,  but  they  with  a  manifestly  superior  ca 
pacity  on  the  earthly. 

So  it  was  that  in  that  field  there  was  no  as 
sumption  of  superiority  on  either  side,  but  good 
comradeship.  They  laughed  at  the  ridiculous 
mistakes  he  made  in  trying  to  say  a  few  words 
of  their  language;  he,  in  turn,  made  them  all 
laugh  at  the  awkward  way  in  which  some  of 
their  number  had  planted  something.  To  one 
coming  along,  that  group  of  men,  women,  and 
children  workers  presented  a  delightful  picture 
to  the  eye ;  and  their  happy  laughter  was  music 
to  the  ear.  Here  was  the  solution  of  a  problem. 
In  what  that  man  was  doing  in  that  field  was 
the  way  out  of  darkness  into  light  for  a  race. 
There  was  the  solution  of  the  apparently  hope 
less  problem  of  how  to  change  scalp-taking  and 
scalp-dancing  savages  into  honest,  industrious, 
and  useful  citizens,  a  blessing  to  the  world  and 
a  help  to  their  neighbors. 

When  they  had  worked  an  hour  or  two  they 
went  home  to  breakfast  for  an  hour,  and  then 
reassembled  in  the  field.  That  was  one  of  the 
missionary's  objects— to  teach  them  regularity, 
even  of  meals,  something  to  which  they  had  been 


392  THE  OJIBWAY 

utter  strangers.  Then,  after  they  had  worked 
an  hour  or  two  longer,  a  sweet  bell  rang  out 
from  the  log  tower  of  the  little  log  church,— 
for  the  missionary  had  already  built  a  little 
chapel,— and  the  entire  company  dropped  their 
hoes  and  went  into  the  sacred  place.  Oh,  how 
grateful  was  its  shade  after  the  hot  glare  of 
the  sun !  There  was  a  little  stained-glass  win 
dow  over  the  altar,  with  a  figure  of  the  sweet 
Saviour  in  it.  There  was  a  small  altar,  sur 
mounted  by  a  brass  cross.  There  was  the  chan 
cel  rail;  and  outside,  the  benches  for  the  wor 
shippers. 

The  missionary  was  a  wise  man,  and  knew 
that  the  people  could  not  at  first  endure  con 
tinuous  labor  all  day  long,  never  having  been 
used  to  labor  at  all.  He  realized  that  as  they 
were  part  body  and  part  spirit,  they  required 
refreshment  and  nutriment  for  the  spirit  as  well 
as  for  the  body.  Therefore  it  was  that  every 
day  he  led  them  from  the  field  to  the  house  of 
God,  for  bodily  rest  and  for  spiritual  refresh 
ment.  While  they  were  sitting  there  he  put  on, 
in  a  little  vestry  room,  the  pure  white  robes  that 
befitted  him  so  well,  and  the  black  stole;  then 
came  in  and  began  the  Morning  Prayer.  None 
of  them  were  yet  Christians,  but  he  was  lead 
ing  them  on  the  way  to  be  so.  They  soon  learned 
to  say  the  General  Confession  in  their  own 
language;  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Creed. 
He  had  learned  to  say  them  also.  He  had  his 
interpreter  read  the  portions  of  Scripture  in 
their  own  language;  he  himself  read  the  pray 
ers.  But  the  best  of  all  were  the  hymns.  With 


THE  OJIBWAY  393 

a  delighted  surprise  they  found  that  they  could 
sing  hymns  in  their  own  language!  They  had 
previously  had  no  music  in  their  own  language, 
except  the  chants  used  in  their  dances,  and  med 
icine  and  war  songs;  and  this  seemed  to  them 
as  if  they  had  acquired  a  new  and  delightful 
sense  and  knew  how  to  exercise  it.  Their  voices, 
the  women's  especially,  were  very  melodious, 
and  soon  they  made  the  walls  of  the  little  chap 
el  resound  with  their  beautiful  tunes,  which  they 
carried  strongly  and  well  themselves.  Soon  out 
doors  and  indoors  one  would  hear  snatches  of 
Christian  songs.  One  would  hear  them  at  their 
work,  and  when  they  were  sitting  quietly  in  their 
wigwams.  There  was  a  little  log  school-house 
also,  in  which  their  children  began  to  be  taught 
Seeing  what  was  going  on,  one  realized  that 
they  were  what  they  were  simply  because  noth 
ing  had  ever  been  done  to  make  them  other 
wise;  and  that  when  the  proper  means  were 
used  to  make  them  otherwise  a  change  began  to 
appear.  In  this  case  one  saw  that  the  means 
were  applied  by  a  master-hand—one  who  saw 
very  clearly  just  what  was  needed ;  had  faith  in 
the  efficacy  of  the  instruments  he  used;  and 
with  courage  and  persistency  applied  them. 

When  the  hour  spent  in  church  was  over, 
Breck  dismissed  them  to  their  homes  to  attend 
to  their  own  concerns.  There  was  no  further 
labor  that  day.  The  morning  hours  devoted  to 
the  fields  were  enough  to  keep  the  plants  grow 
ing,  and  without  a  weed.  The  morning's  hour 
of  worship  and  with  hymns,  but  without  any 


394  THE  OJIBWAY 

sermon  except  on  the  Lord's  Day,  was  enough 
for  their  spiritual  culture. 

So  the  early  weeks  of  summer  wore  along; 
but  now  came  an  unlocked  for  trial.  Nearly 
all  June  it  did  not  rain.  The  plants  began  to 
wilt  under  the  long-continued  and  fierce  heat. 
Breck  and  his  friends  still  worked  daily  in  the 
garden,  but  the  people  began  to  fear  that  their 
labor  was  thrown  away.  There  was  no  longer 
any  growth.  They  said  among  themselves  that 
if  rain  did  not  come  in  three  or  four  days  the 
fields  were  ruined.  They  had  had  high  hopes  of 
a  new  and  better  way  of  living  than  the  way 
their  fathers  knew;  they  had  made  an  honest 
effort,  under  the  inspiration  of  their  missionary, 
to  enter  on  that  way,  and  now  their  hopes  and 
their  efforts  were  mocked !  They  had  done  the 
best  they  knew  in  the  new  and  good  way,  and 
now  God  cast  them  down!  What  were  they  to 
think  of  it?  It  seemed  that  God  did  not  intend 
them  to  be  Christians,  nor  to  follow  the  Christ 
ian  way  of  life.  Day  after  day,  week  after  wee£, 
there  was  the  same  brazen  sky  overhead,  without 
a  cloud  in  it,  with  only  a  fierce  sun  pouring  out 
of  it.  The  soil  was  baked  and  parched ;  it  gap 
ed  open;  great  cracks  opened  in  it.  The  little 
streams  were  all  dried  up,  as  were  the  ponds  and 
small  lakes.  Even  the  oak  trees  began  to  shed 
their  leaves.  It  seemed  as  if  God  had  forsaken 
the  earth.  It  seemed  as  if  it  never  could  rain 
again.  Several  times  there  had  been  some  gath 
erings  of  clouds,  there  had  even  been  some  mut 
tering  thunders,  but  they  had  passed  and  left 
everything  more  hopeless  than  before.  A  long, 


THE  OJIBWAY  395 

settled,  steady  drought— a  drought  that  would 
ruin  their  crops— was  all  that  was  in  sight. 
And  how  proud  they  had  been  of  those  fields— 
the  plants  and  vines  growing  so  closely  together 
and  so  luxuriantly  that  they  hid  the  ground! 
All  the  same  height,  even  as  a  brush;  but  now 
wilting  on  the  ground,  lost,  apparently,  beyond 
recovery. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  was  the  one  man  who  had 
stood  aloof  from  the  new  departure.  He  had 
never  been  in  the  fields  with  the  missionary  and 
the  workers.  On  the  contrary,  he  had  steadily 
opposed  everything  that  had  been  going  on.  He 
instinctively  recognized  in  the  missionary  his 
antagonist ;  and  in  what  was  being  done,  the  un 
dermining  of  his  position.  His  glory  as  the  Son 
of  God  was  distinctly  beginning  to  fade  with  the 
introduction  of  the  new  ideas  that  now  occupied 
the  people's  minds.  And  the  civilized  farmer's 
life,  on  which  the  people  seemed  to  be  entering 
made,  he  felt,  directly  against  him.  He  saw 
light  coming,  and  he  hated  and  fought  against  it. 
A  true  Son  of  God  was  proclaimed,  and  before 
Him  he  found  his  light  diminishing.  He  intui 
tively  felt  that  these  doctrines  struck  at  the 
foundation  of  his  claim  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
and  so  of  his  greatness  and  opulence. 

He  directed  his  efforts,  therefore,  to  discour 
aging  the  people,  and  to  keeping  them  from  liv 
ing  the  life  of  farmers— and  well  he  knew  how 
to  set  about  it.  He  collected  them  into  little 
councils  here  and  there;  and  even  labored  with 
them  in  little  groups,  or  singly,  wherever  he 
could  find  them.  The  unexpected  and  terrible 


396  THE  OJIBWAY 

drought   placed   a   formidable   weapon   in  his 
hands. 

"Look  here/'  he  said  to  them,  "how  this  mis 
sionary  is  abusing  you."  An  Indian,  or  any 
man,  is  naturally  very  ready  to  listen  to  any  one 
who  tells  him  someone  is  abusing  him.  "See 
how  hard  this  man  has  worked  you  out  there  in 
the  field  under  the  hot  sun!  And  I  have  seen 
you  there  sometimes  very  early  in  the  morning, 
when  you  ought  to  have  been  sleeping.  But  he 
has  no  regard  for  you ;  he  deprives  you  of  your 
natural  rest  and  drags  you  out  into  the  field  with 
him.  And  what  are  you  to  get  for  it— for  all 
the  sweat  that  has  showered  from  you  on  that 
field,  and  for  your  broken  rest?  Yes,  what  are 
you  to  get  for  it?  Just  look  at  that  field,  for 
answer.  You  will  get  nothing.  Those  plants 
are  all  wilted  and  dying.  He  promised  you  the 
crops  when  matured ;  but  there  are  not  going  to 
be  any  crops.  So  he  has  deceived  you.  Yes,  he 
has  deluded  you.  So  many  days  you  have  toiled 
and  toiled  there ;  and  all  for  nothing !  This  man 
has  been  a  curse  to  you,  making  you  toil  and 
slave ;  and  he  will  be  as  long  as  he  lives  in  this 
village.  You  ought  to  rise  in  your  might,  like 
the  noble  people  you  are,  and  kill  him  for  a  de 
ceiver.  It  is  evident  that  all  he  wants  is  to  make 
slaves  of  you,  and  he  to  be  the  prince!  Who 
ever  heard  of  the  noble  Ojibways  being  slaves? 
They  never  have  been  till  now,  for  they  are  too 
noble  a  race  for  that!  But  he  has  made  you 
slaves  at  last  and  he  is  the  master!  Yes,  I  can 
see  that  when  I  look  in  that  field  and  see  you 
there  with  a  hoe  put  into  your  hand  and  your 


THE  OJIBWAY  397 

back  bent,  and  your  face  down,  and  grubbing, 
grubbing  in  the  ground,  a  slave !  What  the  Sioux 
were  never  able  to  do ;  nor  the  English,  when  their 
trading-posts  were  here;  nor  the  Long  Knives 
since  they  came,  he  has  done— that  is,  to  make 
you  slaves !  And  Oh,  he  speaks  you  so  fair,  and 
smiles  so  sweet,  and  is  so  kind ;  and  underneath 
it,  all  he  is  thinking  of  is  to  make  you  slavesj 
And  now  we  see  what  the  Powers  above  think  of 
it— there  is  that  garden  dying,  or  dead.  That 
shows  you  plainly  what  a  bad  man  he  is.  Every 
thing  is  working  against  him.  His  heart  is  so 
black  that  it  will  not  even  rain  where  he  is.  Do 
any  of  us  ever  remember  such  a  drought  as  this  ? 
Not  one  of  us.  And  he  is  the  cause  of  it.  His 
very  presence  brings  our  village  under  a  curse. 
Don't  any  of  you  go  to  the  field  with  him  any 
more.  Do  not  let  him  delude  you  any  more.  He 
has  almost  ruined  you  already  with  this  drought 
and  he  will  certainly  completely  ruin  you  if  you 
keep  on  with  him  any  more. 

"Oh,  it  makes  my  blood  boil  to  see  the  noble 
men  who  used  to  be  warriors,  and  stepped  the 
prairie  free  and  independent,  going  against  the 
Sioux,  and  bursting  right  in  on  them  in  their 
skin  lodges  to  take  their  scalps— I  say  it  makes 
me  sick  to  see  those  men  now  with  a  hoe  in  their 
hand!  This  deceiver  has  taken  the  gun  and  the 
tomahawk  out  of  their  hands,  and  has  given 
them  a  hoe !  He  has  made  them  women,  instead 
of  warriors !  Old  women  at  that,  with  not  spirit 
enough  to  resent  anything;  only  able  to  hoe. 
The  next  thing  will  be  he  will  bring  out  petti 
coats  and  put  them  upon  you  men ;  and  then  he 


398  THE  OJIBWAY 

will  have  made  you  his  slaves  indeed !  Then  he 
will  lead  you  into  that  house  which  he  calls  his 
church,  and  go  through  his  mummery  talk ;  and 
you  sitting  there  with  a  spirit  as  small  as  some 
poor  little  orphan  bird  sitting  on  a  bough,  in  the 
cold  and  rain,  that  is  so  subdued  it  is  hardly  able 
to  utter  a  cheep. 

"Well,  I  think  I  had  better  stop,  for  if  I  allow 
myself  to  dwell  much  longer  on  what  I  see  that 
man  is  doing  to  you,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  con 
tain  myself.  Don't  any  of  you  ever  again  go  in 
with  him  into  that  house,  nor  into  that  field ;  but 
rise  up  and  come  with  me,  and  let  us  kill  him  and 
tear  down  his  house.  Our  fathers  told  us  that 
there  were  some  men  so  bad  that  everything 
went  wrong  where  they  were— it  would  not  rain, 
or  some  misfortune  was  sure  to  occur ;  and  mis 
fortunes  kept  following  one  another ;  and  it  ap 
pears  that  this  man  who  has  intruded  himself 
upon  us  is  one  of  these,  for  we  have  had  nothing 
but  misfortunes  since  he  came." 

All  this  set  the  people  to  thinking  very  seri 
ously.  It  might  be  so.  It  certainly  looked  like 
it.  Perhaps  Sha-bosh-kunk's  view  was  true.  It 
was  certainly  in  accord  with  all  their  previous 
ideas  up  to  this  time.  This  man  might  after  all 
be  a  deceiver.  Instead  of  his  presence  bringing 
blessings  to  them,  perhaps  it  brought  a  curse. 
His  course  so  far  had  not  been  attended  with 
success.  It  is  true  he  had  once  relieved  them 
when  starving,  but  that  was  an  old  story,  long 
past.  Perhaps  he  did  that  good  turn  once  to  get 
secure  possession  of  them  for  the  future. 

The  soul  of  the  missionary  was  very  sorely 


THE  OJIBWAY  399 

exercised  by  this  entirely  unexpected  misfor 
tune  of  the  protracted  and  terrible  drought.  He 
could  read  in  the  people's  faces  and  demeanor 
something  of  what  was  going  on  in  their  minds. 
And  although  Sha-bosh-kunk's  counsels  were 
given  secretly,  where  he  would  not  hear  them, 
yet  an  inkling  of  them  in  some  way  came  to  him. 
He  was  made  aware  that  not  only  were  Provi 
dential  events  all  against  him,  but  also  that  there 
was  a  powerful,  though  insidious,  influence 
working  that  threatened  to  bring  to  naught  all 
the  good  that  he  had  proposed  to  do  to  the  poor 
people.  That  his  expulsion  at  least,  and  the 
frustrating  of  his  life-work,  were  very  near,  and 
very  probably  his  death.  He  knew  that  all  sav 
ages  are  liable  to  revulsions  of  feeling.  He 
knew  their  limited  knowledge;  could  look  at 
things  from  their  standpoint ;  could  make  allow 
ance  for  them.  He  did  not  blame  them ;  it  was 
their  bringing  up.  But  he  was  a  very  sorrowful 
man.  He  saw  that  this  meant  more  than  the 
loss  of  crops,  the  loss  of  food,  or  even  of  life. 
He  saw  that  in  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the 
case  it  meant  the  loss  of  faith  in  God— a  worse 
loss  to  the  poor  people  than  the  loss  of  all  other 
things  combined. 

So  he  grieved  much  over  this  subverting  of  his 
plans.  At  last  it  occurred  to  him  that  God  and 
His  Church  commanded  to  pray  for  rain  when 
it  was  needed,  and  that  he  had  not  yet  specially 
done  so.  He  had  indeed,  in  their  daily  prayers, 
read  the  prayer  for  rain;  but  he  had  not  sum 
moned  them  specially  to  pray  for  it.  He  now, 
therefore,  in  this  desperate  case,  summoned 


400  THE  OJIBWAY 

them  all  to  the  church,  to  pray  specially  for  rain 
to  save  their  fields  from  ruin.  He  first  went  to 
every  wigwam  with  his  interpreter,  and  an 
nounced  what  the  meeting  would  be  for;  then 
the  sweet-toned  bell  called  all.  Soon  they  were 
going  from  every  wigwam,  but  with  no  faith  that 
anything  could  call  rain  from  that  cloudless  sky. 
Some  were  openly  derisive,  and  went  there  to 
witness  the  more  signal  discomfiture  of  the  mis 
sionary.  He  would  call  and  call  again,  and  there 
would  be  no  answer.  Among  those  who  mocked 
was  Sha-bosh-kunk.  His  futile  efforts  would  only 
make  his  defeat  more  conspicuous.  His  way, 
the  white  man's  way,  the  Christian  way,  was  a 
failure;  the  only  way  for  the  Indian  was  to  de 
pend  on  his  drum  and  rattle ;  on  his  gun  and  his 
fish-net.  They  had  hoed  and  planted  and  done 
their  best,  and  the  white  man's  God  but  mocked 
them. 

So  with  mingled  feelings— all  despairing,  and 
many  derisive— they  entered  the  church  and 
took  their  seats  on  the  benches  to  see  what  would 
come  to  pass.  Soon  the  white-robed  Priest  ap 
peared  from  the  vestry-room  and  began  his 
service.  If  others  had  lost  faith,  he  not  one  jot. 
He  had  been  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed.  God 
had  told  him  to  pray,  and  pray  he  would.  The 
service,  with  the  singing  of  many  hymns,  lasted 
about  an  hour.  Through  his  interpreter  he  ad 
dressed  them  on  faith  in  God  and  His  ability  to 
help  them.  He  expressed  his  entire  conviction 
that  He  would  help  them.  He  urged  them  to 
join  him  in  praying  for  help.  Then  he  knelt 
down  and  prayed  fervently  in  his  own  tongue. 


THE  OJIBWAY  401 

Then  he  had  the  prayer  interpreted,  clause  by 
clause  to  them,  that  they  might  join  in  it. 

The  interest  in  these  rather  strange  doings 
had  kept  them  oblivious  of  what  was  going  on 
outside ;  and  when  at  the  end  of  two  hours  they 
went  out  they  were  surprised  at  what  a  change 
had  come  over  the  face  of  the  sky.  The  drop 
ping  rain  began  to  fall  on  their  faces  as  they  left 
and  they  had  to  run  to. their  wigwams  to  avoid 
being  drenched.  There  they  sat;  and  through 
the  open  doors  and  out  of  the  open  tops  watched 
the  big  deluge  come  down.  ' '  The  Heavens  were 
black  with  clouds  and  wind,  and  there  was  a 
great  rain." 

How  the  grateful  thunder  did  roll  all  night 
long,  and  the  lightning  flash,  and  the  water  come 
down  in  sheets !  If  before  it  was  a  question 
whether  the  earth  would  not  parch  and  burn  up 
from  the  utter  dryness,  it  was  now  a  question 
whether  it  could  hold  the  quantity  that  was 
poured  down  upon  it.  When  they  got  up  in  the 
morning,  and  the  sun  broke  through  the  clouds 
that  had  poured  down  such  a  deluge,  there  was 
water,  water  everywhere,  in  pools.  The  drills 
between  their  rows  of  potatoes  were  filled  with 
it  to  the  brim ;  it  lay  in  pools  in  all  low  places ; 
the  lakes  and  ponds  that  had  dried  up  were  all 
again  filled  to  the  brink,  and  every  little  rivulet 
was  laboring  its  hardest  to  convey  the  surplus 
away.  Their  fields,  lately  so  drooping  and  wilt 
ed,  were  now,  more  than  ever,  blooming  "as  a 
watered  garden. "  No  fear  of  any  failure  now, 
for  that  soaking,  even  if  no  more  rain  came,  had 


402  THE  OJIBWAY 

filled  the  ground  so  full  of  water  that  full  fruit 
age  was  assured. 

The  wonder  of  this,  coming  as  it  did  while 
Breck  was  praying,  and  while  he  had  assembled 
them  to  pray  for  rain,  had  a  great  effect  on  the 
people,  and  proved  to  them,  what  they  did  not 
before  believe;  that  God  hears  and  answers 
prayer. 

And  now  something  occurred  which  made 
quite  a  commotion.  There  was  a  warrior  named 
Wasegoneshkunk  ( He-who-makes-a-glittering- 
track-in-the-snow-as-he-walks ;  that  is,  it  spark 
les  when  kicked  aside  by  his  feet),  who  had  al 
ways  stood  very  high.  He  had  been  in  many 
expeditions  against  the  Sioux,  and  had  always 
behaved  like  a  man.  None  was  braver  than  he 
in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  In  all  the  relations  of 
life  he  was  honest.  There  was  not  in  the  settle 
ment  a  man  more  respected  than  he.  And  now 
the  amazing  news  went  round  that  Wasegonesh- 
kunk  had  put  on  trousers !  No  Qjibway  had  ever 
done  so,  and  at  first  it  seemed  incredible.  The 
garb  of  his  fathers,  and  of  his  people,  that  he 
should  discard  it!  That  he  should  so  far  de 
mean  himself  as  to  put  off  the  breech-cloth  and 
leggings  of  the  warrior,  and  put  on  trousers ! 

And  furthermore,  it  was  rumored  that  he  was 
going  to  have  his  scalplock,  his  badge  of  man 
hood,  cut  off !  Heretofore  it  had  waved  victor 
ious  in  the  face  of  the  enemy,  his  hair  gathered 
conveniently  into  one  bunch  for  the  greater  con 
venience  of  his  enemy  to  take  it  if  he  coiild! 
This  it  was  that  Wasegoneshkunk  had  been 
wont  to  take  in  his  hand  and  shake  in  the  sight 


THE  OJIBWAY  403 

of  the  enemy  as  he  uttered  his  war-whoop  of  de 
fiance,  at  the  same  time  jumping  from  side  to 
side  to  escape  the  whizzing  bullets.  And  this  he 
was  now  going  to  cut  off— a  public  degradation 
of  himself  from  the  position  of  warrior,  and  a 
placing  of  himself  with  women !  And  not  only 
so,  but  that  he  was  going  to  be  baptized,  and  re 
nounce  the  faith  of  his  fathers  and  their  gods— 
renounce  their  Grand  Medicine  and  the  most 
sacred  traditions  of  their  race.  Could  this  be 
true? 

This  great  sensation  was  now  agitating  their 
world ;  and  was  the  sole  thing  talked  of  in  every 
wigwam.  It  was  felt  to  be  a  very  serious  mat 
ter,  and  one  that  affected  them  all.  They  did 
not  know  just  what  to  think  about  it,  but  it 
seemed  to  be  in  some  way  pregnant  with  mis 
chief. 

Now  it  was  that  Sha-bosh-kunk  came  to  the 
front  and  sent  tobacco  to  all  the  people,  calling 
them  to  a  council.  The  time  came— there  they 
were,  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  lake.  The  under 
brush  had  been  cleared  off  a  certain  space,  in 
the  centre  of  which  the  drummers  and  chanters 
sat,  and  then,  leaving  a  space  between,  the  men 
of  the  village.  After  much  chanting  and  many 
dances,  the  caller  of  the  council  rose  and  ad 
dressed  them. 

"My  friends, "  said  he,  "I  have  called  you  to 
speak  to  you  about  this  stranger  who  has  come 
among  us.  His  being  here  is  a  very  serious 
matter.  We  did  not  send  for  him,  yet  he  has 
come.  And  he  has  built  a  house  here,  that  he 
lives  in,  and  a  church.  So  he  has  taken  per- 


404  THE  OJIBWAY 

manent  possession  as  it  were.  He  considers 
now  that  he  has  just  as  much  right  to  live  here 
as  we  have.  If  he  had  come  on  a  visit,  or  even 
was  living  in  a  tent,  it  would  be  different,  but  he 
is  fixed ;  in  a  house.  And  now  that  he  is  come, 
we  do  not  know  how  many  hundreds  or  thou 
sands  he  may  bring  after  him;  and  they  will 
crowd  us  out  of  our  village  and  lands,  and  take 
possession.  So  we  shall  be  thrust  out,  and  he 
and  his  friends  live  where  we  and  our  fathers 
have  always  lived,  and  we  shall  be  vagabonds. 
Perhaps  they  will  throw  us  on  some  rock  some 
where,  where  no  human  being  can  live,  and  at 
last  crowd  us  into  the  sea.  If  we  let  this  man 
come  here  and  live,  it  is  the  first  step  toward  all 
this." 

Here  he  waxed  righteously  indignant.  "  In 
deed,  my  friends,  the  0  jib  way  Indian  is  a  most 
patient  man  to  bear  all  this.  No  other  people 
would  bear  it.  This  man's  own  people  would 
not.  Suppose  one  of  us  went  and  camped  on 
the  white  man's  land.  Would  he  allow  us  to 
live  there  quietly?  No,  he  would  kick  us  off  his 
premises  in  short  order.  But  the  Ojibway  is  so 
patient  that  he  will  bear  anything. 

"And  my  friends,"  he  continued,  taking  up 
another  matter,  "this  man  does  not  treat  us 
right.  He  has  a  great  many  things  that  we 
need  in  that  house  of  his,  and  he  does  not  divide 
with  us.  He  has  tea  there,  and  generally  we 
have  none,  yet  he  does  not  divide.  Now  if  I  had 
something,  as  tea,  and  saw  a  poor  person  with 
out  any,  that  is  the  very  first  thing  I  would  do, 
I  would  give  the  poor  person  tea.  And  he  has 


THE  OJIBWAY  405 

money  there,  no  doubt,— every  white  man  has 
money,— and  he  does  not  divide  with  us,  who 
have  none.  He  is  stingy.  If  he  wishes  to  come 
here  and  live  with  us  and  be  one  of  us  ^hy  does 
he  not  first  of  all,  divide  everything  with  us,  and 
then  he  will  be  one  with  us.  Then  we  shall  bo 
indeed  brothers.  He  talks  about  feeling  pity 
for  us,  about  having  a  kind  feeling  toward  us  in 
our  poverty,— the  white  people  all  talk  in  that 
way,— then  why  does  he  not  show  it  by  dividing 
everything— to  say  to  us:  'My  friends,  I  see 
that  you  are  very  poor;  here,  I  give  you  every 
thing  I  have;  take  it  and  divide  it  among  you.' 
If  he  did  that  we  would  know  that  he  did  really 
feel  kindly  toward  us,  and  that  it  is  not  merely 
hypocritical  pretending. 

"And  there  he  takes  our  wood  to  burn  in  his 
stoves,  to  cook,  and  keep  himself  warm.  Why 
does  he  not  pay  us  for  that  wood?  It  does  not 
belong  to  him,  it  is  ours.  And  I  might  even 
mention  the  water  out  of  our  lake  that  he  drinks. 
That  water  is  ours,  and  he  has  no  business  to 
take  it  without  paying  us  for  it.  He  should  at 
least  keep  us  in  tobacco  for  our  wood  and  water 
that  he  uses.  That  would  be  a  very  small  thing, 
to  give  us  a  little  tobacco  to  chew  and  smoke. 
From  the  bottom  of  my.  heart  I  pity  you  noble 
men,  who  are  sitting  there,  that  you  are  so  poor 
you  have  not  even  tobacco.  You  have  deserved 
better  things  than  this,  my  friends.  Yet  I  see 
you  smoking  the  inner  bark  of  the  red  willow, 
without  the  least  bit  of  tobacco  to  mix  with  it- 
like  some  poor  orphan,  who  whas  no  father  to 
give  him  anything,  so  he  is  reduced  to  the  ex- 


406  THE  OJIBWAY 

tremity  of  poverty.  And  all  this  time  that  man 
has  plenty  of  money  to  get  you  tobacco,  but  he 
will  not.  He  is  probably  secretly  laughing  at 
you  all  this  time  because  you  are  so  poor ! 

"Now  what  are  we  going  to  do  about  all  this, 
my  friends?  Are  we  going  to  sit  still  and  en 
due  all  this  like  cowards'?  Or  are  we  going  to 
crouch  in  a  corner,  like  dogs  that  have  been 
whipped,  and  let  this  man  exult  over  us  ?  No ! 
I  think  we  are  not  that  kind  of  men.  The  0 jib- 
way  is  a  warrior,  a  brave  man,  not  a  coward. 
The  Ojibway  is  not  afraid  to  face  the  Sioux,  no 
matior  how  many  there  may  be  of  them;  nor 
their  bullets,  nor  their  war-clubs!  Then  will 
the  Ojibway  be  afraid  of  this  stranger  who  has 
come  among  us;  who  is  abusing  us?  I  will 
never  believe  it!  For  my  part,  I  glory  in  being 
an  Ojibway  warrior !"  Here  he  struck  his  hand 
upon  his  expanded  chest. 

"So  I  think,  my  friends,  as  the  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter,  that  we  had  better  go  and  take 
what  property  this  man  has,  and  which  we  so 
much  need,  and  either  drive  him  away  or  kill 
him.  Is  not  the  property  here,  on  our  land?  So, 
being  upon  our  land,  it  belongs  to  us.  We  did 
not  tell  him  to  bring  it  here ;  but  by  bringing  it 
here  and  putting  it  upon  our  land,  he  made  it 
ours,  and  it  is  ours. 

"So  what  I  propose  to  you  is— let  us  go  and 
take  this  man's  property  and  drive  him  off  or 
kill  him ;  and  let  us  stop  all  this  foolishness  that 
he  has  inaugurated  here.  Let  us  not  let  this 
man  ride  over  us  nor  abuse  us  as  he  has  been 
doing. " 


THE  OJIBWAY  407 

In  this  harangue  Sha-bosli-kunk  was  very 
careful  not  to  remind  them  that  Breck  had  res 
cued  them  from  death  the  previous  winter,  when 
in  a  starving  condition,  by  bringing  them  pro 
visions.  It  was  already  some  time  ago,  and  he 
trusted  that  it  had  been  partially  forgotten.  He 
reckoned  also  on  his  own  people  being  like  all 
savages,  capricious.  Yesterday,  when  Breck 
brought  them  provisions,  he  was  in  high  favor— 
THE  man;  to-day,  when  they  do  not  need  his 
provisions,  and  when  his  belief  offends  their 
prejudices,  drive  him  off,  or  kill  him,  and  let  the 
past  be  forgotten!  Sha-bosh-kunk  understood 
this  trait,  and  played  upon  it. 

When  he  had  finished  this  speech,  there  were 
many  war-whoops  let  out,  showing  that  what  he 
had  said  had  struck  a  responsive  chord  in  many 
hearts.  Then  the  drums  gave  a  long  roll,  and 
the  dancers  jumped  up,  and  soon  they  were  giv: 
ing  vent  to  their  pent-up  feelings  by  whooping 
and  dancing  furiously.  It  took  a  long  time  for 
them  to  work  off  the  excitement  that  had  been 
generated  within  them  by  the  speaker's  words,. 
When  at  last  they  quieted  down,  and  were  once 
more  seated  on  the  ground,  every  mind  was 
working  intently,  trying  to  find  just  what  was 
the  right  thing  to  do,  and  all  ready  to  listen,  if 
more  light  could  be  thrown  on  the  subject  by 
any  one.  They  were  anxious  to  decide  accord 
ing  to  the  best  light  they  had.  They  were  per 
plexed,  but  strongly  leaning  to  the  views  they 
had  just  heard.  Even  those  who  worked  daily 
with  the  missionary  in  the  fields,  and  saw  him 
daily  in  the  house  of  God,  could  not  free  them- 


408  THE  OJIBWAY 

selves  from  being  influenced  by  things  presented 
from  the  old  Indian  standpoint.  It  may  seem  to 
others  that  it  was  a  very  simple  thing  to  find  the 
right ;  but  to  people  brought  up  as  they  had  been 
and  in  the  environment  in  which  they  were,  it 
was  not  simple. 

The  chiefs  evidently  shared  in  the  perplexity 
of  the  rest,  and  in  order  to  stave  off  the  decision 
for  a  little  while  and  give  themselves  some  re 
spite  from  the  disagreeable  duty  of  deciding, 
they  bethought  them  of  asking  a  distinguished 
visitor  what  he  thought  of  it.  This  was  Medwe- 
ganonint  (He-who-is-heard-spoken-to-at-a-dis- 
tance),  the  famous  head  chief  of  the  Red  Lake 
band.  His  home  was  about  five  sleeps  (130  miles) 
to  the  northwest,  on  the  great  lake  already 
named.  He  had  a  reputation  for  wisdom  and 
courage  greater  than  any  man  in  the  Indian 
country,  and  there  was  no  chief  anywhere  who 
was  so  respected  and  obeved  by  his  band,  who 
numbered  about  1,000.  While  no  orator,  he  had 
ruled  over  them  so  bravely  and  sagaciously  that 
they  followed  him  implicitly. 

When  he  was  requested  by  the  chiefs  to  give 
his  opinion,  all  eyes  were  turned  on  him  in  ex 
pectation.  He,  on  being  thus  invited,  sat  still 
for  some  moments  in  meditation.  Then  he  rose 
and  arranged  his  blanket  so  that  it  was  draped 
around  his  form  like  a  Roman  toga.  It  took  him 
some  time  to  raise  his  six  feet  and  four  inches  of 
height  into  an  erect  position,  and  there  he  stood 
motionless.  What  a  magnificent  chest  he  had! 
What  a  splendid  head!  He  seemed,  as  he  was, 
a  king  of  men.  One  could  see  that  if  the  inter- 


THE  OJIBWAY  409 

ior  corresponded  to  the  exterior,  nothing  low  or 
unworthy  found  a  refuge  there.  And  so  indeed 
it  was,  for  his  whole  life  had  been  noble.  No 
bility  was  stamped  on  all  that  he  did— on  his 
manner  and  bearing  as  well  as  on  his  words  and 
actions.  Looking  upon  him  one  could  not  bring 
himself  to  believe  that  he  had  ever  been  guilty 
of  anything  mean.  He  indeed  embodied  that 
much  abused  phrase,  nature's  nobleman. 

1  i  My  friends, ' '  he  said  slowly  and  calmly,  ' '  it 
is  evident  that  Sha-bosh-kunk's  heart  and  his 
intention  are  good,  notwithstanding. "  This 
was  the  way  in  which  his  native  politeness  led 
him  not  to  ascribe  any  evil  intention — about 
which  he  could  not  be  sure— to  the  proposer  of 
a  matter;  while  disagreeing  with  the  conclusions 
that  he  drew.  "We  have  heard  what  he  has 
said  about  the  evil  which  he  thinks  this  man  is 
doing  to  you,  and  his  advice  to  drive  him  off. 
Now,  since  you  ask  me  I  will  tell  you  how  it  ap 
pears  to  me.  He  has  told  you  about  your  wood 
that  this  man  uses.  But  we  all  know  that  he 
takes  wood  of  dead  or  fallen  trees,  that  is  of  no 
use  to  anybody.  We  know  there  are  thousands 
and  thousands  of  such  trees  lying  on  the  ground 
rotting  that  will  never  be  used  by  any  one.  Is 
it  not  better  that  he  should  use  them  than  that 
they  should  rot  there?  And  when  they  are  used 
is  it  not  to  keep  you  warm  while  you  are  in 
church,  or  your  children,  while  they  are  in 
school ;  or  himself,  so  he  will  keep  alive  to  work 
for  you?  And  when  he  built  his  log  house  and 
his  log  church,  I  understand  he  paid  the  value  of 
the  logs,— although  they  were  of  no  value  to  you, 


410  THE  OJIBWAY 

—and  that  you  all  got  a  share  of  what  was  paid. 
Sha-bosh-kunk  even  spoke  of  the  water  he 
drank ;  but  that  seems  almost  ridiculous  to  me, 
for  your  great  lake  and  all  the  lakes  and  rivers 
are  full  of  water.  Then  he  spoke  of  his  not 
dividing  everything  with  you.  But  do  you  not 
see  that  if  he  did  so  he  would  have  to  go  away 
the  next  day,  because  he  would  have  nothing  to 
live  on?  It  may  be  that  that  is  the  way  the  In 
dians  do,  divide  everything ;  but  I  think  it  would 
be  a  great  deal  better  if  they  did  not  do  it.  That 
is  what  keeps  gamblers  and  lazy  people  still  gam 
blers  and  lazy,  because  they  think  they  are  en 
titled  to  share  with  the  industrious,  and  then 
what  inducement  does  any  man  have  to  be  in 
dustrious?  So,  notwithstanding  what  Sha- 
bosh-kunk  has  said  about  dividing,  I  think  that 
the  missionary  is  right  on  that  subject ;  and  that 
we  had  better  imitate  him.  Then  there  would 
not  be  so  many  gamblers  and  worthless  people, 
for  they  would  have  to  go  to  work. 

"You  have  been  told  that  this  missionary  is 
stingy,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  he  gives  :/ou  a 
great  deal.  Did  I  not  see  you  all  out  with  him 
day  after  day,  working  with  spade  and  shovel, 
and  he  working  with  you,  making  a  good  wagon 
road  from  your  village  to  Leech  Lake?  And 
were  not  every  one  of  you  paid  good  wages  by 
him  in  money  or  clothing  for  your  work?  I  have 
not  seen  anything  like  that  anywhere  in  the  In 
dian  country,  and  you  are  the  most  blessed  of  all 
people,  and  all  on  account  of  the  missionary. 
And  I  noticed  that  while  you  were  working  on 
that  road  you  had  all  kinds  of  good  food  in 


THE  OJIBWAY  411 

abundance,  such  food  as  the  white  man  eats,  but 
our  people  knew  nothing  about  till  just  now.  I 
noticed  that  you  had  tea,  that  you  are  so  fond  of, 
and  coffee,  which  we  never  heard  of ;  as  well  as 
beans,  and  dried  apples,  and  such  a  variety  of 
delicious  food.  Whereas  you  know  that  if  the 
poor  Indian  has  one  thing  only— as  fish  only,  or 
venison  only,  or  wild  rice  only— he  thinks  he  has 
a  good  enough  meal.  And  there  I  saw  every 
man  and  woman  have  all  they  wanted  of  another 
thing  that  you  never  tasted  till  very  lately,  srood 
flour  bread.  You  know  that  all  we  have  had 
heretofore  is  bread  made  of  corn  pounded  with 
stones.  But  if  you  drive  this  man  off,  farewell 
to  such  food  as  you  have  been  having.  I  wish 
that  some  man  would  come  among  my  people  at 
Red  Lake  and  do  for  them  what  I  see  this  man 
is  doing  for  you.  How  thankful  they  would  be 
for  the  food  I  see  you  have,  and  for  the  money 
to  buy  such  clothing  as  I  see  you  wear. 

"I  have  been  everywhere  in  the  Ojibway 
country  and  nowhere  have  I  seen  a  people  so 
blessed  as  you  are  here;  and  all  on  account  of 
this  man  whom  Sha-bosh-kunk  advises  you  to 
drive  off  or  kill.  And  there  is  that  field  in 
which  you  have  been  working  day  by  day  and 
which  is  now  glorious  with  corn,  potatoes,  and 
vegetables  of  all  kinds— vegetables  which  we 
now  have  seen  for  the  first  time,  but  which  we 
like  so  much.  I  have  seen  no  field  to  begin  to 
compare  with  that  anywhere  in  the  Indian 
country.  Who  is  to  have  the  proceeds  of  that 
field  t  I  understand  that  you  are,  who  have 
done  the  work  j  but  it  was  that  man  who  showed 


412  THE  OJIBWAY 

you,  and  gave  you  the  seed,  and  worked  with 
you,  and  but  for  him  you  would  have  had  no 
field  and  no  crop.  And  now  you  propose  to  kill 
that  man  or  drive  him  away!  You  know,  my 
friends,  that  a  good  many  of  us  Indians  starve 
to  death  every  winter  somewhere  in  the  Indian 
country,  because  we  have  raised  no  crops,  but 
depended  on  game;  and  when  no  game  can  be 
found  we  die.  But  in  that  field  I  see  the  end  of 
starvation  in  the  Indian  country,  and  I  see 
abundance  for  every  man  all  the  year  round. 
So  it  seems  that  while  we  have  been  starving  to 
death  we  have  been  living  on  a  gold  mine,— 
this  rich  soil  all  about  us,— and  did  not  know  it. 
Now  this  man  and  his  garden  have  discovered  it 
to  us,  and  yet  we  talk  of  killing  him  or  driving 
him  away !  My  friends,  I  see  here  in  this  man's 
work  and  his  field  the  first  clear  sign  of  life  for 
the  Ojibway  people  that  I  have  ever  seen.  This 
man  has  certainly  struck  out  a  path  to  life,  for 
us  to  follow,  and  he  is  the  first  man  who  has 
done  it! 

1 '  Then  I  went  into  a  building  here  and  I  saw 
your  little  children  well  clothed  and  well  fed, 
and  singing  hymns— in  what  they  call  a  school. 
It  seems  they  are  being  taught  there  all  the  wis 
dom  of  the  white  man.  How  much  better  start 
in  life  they  will  have  than  we,  who  were  only 
taught  about  killing  Sioux  and  dancing  over  a 
scalp !  We  would  have  been  very  different  peo 
ple  had  we  had  the  chance  they  have.  And  all 
this  comes  through  this  man. 

"My  friends,  you  have  heard  that  the  white 
man  will  come  and  fling  us  out  of  this  place,  and 


THE  OJIBWAY  413 

take  everything  we  have,  and  that  this  man  is  the 
advance  guard.  It  may  be  the  white  men  will 
sometime  come  and  crowd  us  out  of  our  beauti 
ful  land.  I  do  not  know— that  is  in  the  future, 
and  neither  I  nor  any  man  can  tell;  but  one 
thing  I  can  tell  you  that  I  am  sure  of— it  will 
never  be  this  kind  of  white  man.  I  suppose 
there  are  among  the  white  people  some  who  are 
murderous  and  some  who  are  robbers,  and  some 
who  sell  us  fire-water  to  destroy  us;  and  there 
are  others  among  them  who  are  very  good. 
This  man  is  evidently  of  the  good  kind  and  he 
will  never  do  us  anything  but  good;  and  any 
people  that  he  brings  here,  no  matter  how  many 
they  be,  will  be  of  the  same  kind  as  he  is  and  will 
do  us  nothing  but  good. 

"This  man  is  not  the  same  kind  of  white  man 
that  we  have  heretofore  seen.  The  white  men 
we  have  seen  have  been  nearly  all  traders;  or 
officers  and  soldiers  at  a  military  post.  The 
traders,  we  know,  are  usually  Frenchmen,  and 
they  generally  cheat  us.  They  give  us  fire 
water  and  get  our  furs  for  a  trifle.  The  officers 
and  soldiers  have  never  made  any  efforts  for 
our  good  that  I  know  of;  but  on  the  contrary, 
many  evils  from  which  we  grievously  suffer 
have  come  from  their  presence  near  us.  But 
this  man  does  not  try  to  make  money  out  of  us 
like  the  trader,  nor  to  keep  us  down  like  the  sol 
dier.  He  seems  to  be  here  solely  for  our  good. 
I  went  into  his  house  and  sat  down  and  talked 
with  this  man,  and  I  watched  him,  and  I  could 
see  no  evil  in  him.  He  is  of  a  different  spirit 
from  the  others. 


414  THE  OJIBWAY 

"Now  let  me  tell  you  another  thing  that  you 
do  not  know.  You  think  there  are  only  a  few 
hundred  people  in  the  whole  world,  for  you  have 
traveled  over  this  whole  country,  over  the  whole 
world,  as  one  may  think— days  and  days  in 
every  direction,  and  you  have  seen  only  a  few 
hundred  people  in  it  all.  So  you  think  there  are 
only  a  few  people  in  the  whole  world.  But  I 
have  been  to  Washington,  because  I  am  a  chief 
and  my  father  was  chief  before  me ;  and  I  tejl 
you  that  there  are  countless  towns  and  villages 
in  the  world  that  you  do  not  know  anything 
about.  Now  you  think  it  is  but  a  small  thing 
to  kill  this  man  or  drive  him  off ;  but  let  me  tell 
you  that  if  you  touch  him  you  touch  the  whole 
white  people,  and  you  will  draw  the  whole  white 
people  upon  you.  Do  anything  bad  to  this  man, 
the  soldiers  and  the  white  people  will  be  upon 
you  on  account  of  it— and  that  will  come  to  pass 
quickly  which  you  have  spoken  of,  and  which 
you  dread  so  much,  namely,  that  you  will  be 
violently  hurled  out  of  this  beautiful  land  which 
you  love  so  much,  and  thrown  into  some  desert 
to  starve  to  death;  but  your  own  land  you  will 
see  no  more!  That  will  come  about  by  your 
molesting  this  man  in  any  way;  but  never  by 
letting  him  stay  here  and  doing  all  the  good  he 
can  to  you. 

"And  now,  my  friends,  this  is  the  last  thing  T 
will  say  to  you.  This  man  has  opened  a  road  to 
you  to  life— by  his  farm,  and  by  his  schools,  and 
by  his  teachers,  and  by  the  employment  he  gives 
you.  Now  let  him  alone,  do  not  injure  him— 
for  he  is  your  best  friend." 


THE  OJIBWAY  415 

When  the  chief  sat  down  the  drums  struck  up 
again  with  their  inspiring  roll  and  soon  all  were 
again  whirling  in  the  dance.  But  when  they  sat 
down  there  was  no  longer  indecision  in  their 
manner  nor  a  desire  for  more  light.  The  right 
had  been  made  clear  to  their  minds— the  chief 
had  convinced  them. 

Sha-bosh-kunk  saw  that  he  was  defeated ;  that 
the  current  had  set  hopelessly  against  him.  But 
although  he  could  not  have  all  he  wanted,  there 
was  yet  something  that  he  might  save  from  the 
wreck.  So  he  arose  and  addressed  them  again. 

"I  see,  my  friends,  that  it  is  not  your  minds 
to  do  what  I  wanted  you  to  do  about  the  mission 
ary.  Well,  I  suppose  that  you  are  wise,  at  any 
rate  there  is  no  use  in  my  speaking  to  you  any 
more  about  that.  But  here  is  another  thing  of 
very  great  importance  which  I  wish  to  speak  to 
you  about.  You  know  that  if  we  are  united  we 
are  strong;  but  if  we  are  split  up  into  various 
parties  we  become  pitiably  weak.  You  know 
that  that  was  one  thing  that  the  old  Indians  en 
joined  upon  us  most  of  all,  to  be  of  one  mind, 
for  then  we  were  strong.  You  know  they  told 
us  that  if  we  made  a  united  demand,  say  on  the 
white  people,  we  would  always  get  what  we 
wanted  because  we  were  of  one  mind.  But  they 
told  us  that  if,  when  we  stood  before  the  white 
people,  even  one  man  spoke  a  different  senti 
ment  from  the  others,  that  one  man  would  so 
weaken  us  with  the  whites  that  we  would  get 
nothing.  For  the  whites  would  say— these  peo 
ple  are  of  different  minds ;  some  of  them  think 
one  thing,  some  think  another ;  we  need  not  pay 


416  THE  OJIBWAY 

any  attention  to  any  of  them.  So  our  fore 
fathers  always  impressed  us  with  the  absolute 
necessity  of  being  united,  and  indeed  we  see  tha,t 
necessity  ourselves. 

"Now  if  there  is  one  thing  that  is  more  abso 
lutely  essential  for  us  to  be  united  in  than  anoth 
er  it  is  our  religion,  for  that  is  the  centre  of  our 
whole  fabric;  and  if  that  falls,  all  falls.  Hith 
erto  we  have  all  been  united  perfectly  in  our  re 
ligion  ;  we  have  all  been  of  the  religion  that  the 
Spirits  gave  us  who  came  out  of  the  waters  and 
stayed  with  our  fathers,  and  on  account  of  whom 
our  fathers  were  blessed.  That  is  the  religion 
of  the  Ojibways;  has  always  been  so  from  time 
immemorial,  and  always  will  be  as  long  as  the 
Ojibways  live  upon  the  earth.  The  Great  Spirit 
Himself,  Whom  the  white  missionaries  talk 
about,  gave  that  religion  to  our  forefathers, 
even  as  He  gave  the  Christian  religion  to  the 
whites,  and  commanded  our  forefathers  ever  to 
cling  to  that  old  faith.  And  by  means  of  it,  as 
we  know,  we  have  cured  disease,  warded  off 
sickness,  and  lived  to  extreme  old  age  upon  the 
earth.  And  by  means  of  it  we  have  drawn  the 
animals  to  us,  and  have  killed  buffalo,  deer,  elk, 
bears,  and  all  other  animals;  and  have  lived  in 
plenty  on  the  very  best.  And  by  means  of  that 
we  have  clothed  ourselves  with  otter  skins,  and 
mink  skins,  and  silver-grey  fox,  and  the  most 
precious  furs.  And  by  means  of  it  and  the  pro 
tection  it  afforded  we  have  gone  against  our 
enemies,  and  have  escaped  their  bullets  and 
their  arrows,  and  returned  in  safety  to  our  vil 
lages  with  scalps— oftentimes  not  a  man  miss- 


THE  OJIBWAY  417 

ing.  All  this  our  religion  has  done  for  us  up  to 
this  time,  because  we  have  been  wholly  united  in 
it.  But  now  for  the  first  time  there  is  a  division 
that  threatens  us,  and  everything  we  hold  dear, 
with  ruin.  One  man  has  put  on  trousers,  dis 
carded  the  sacred  breech-cloth  of  his  fathers; 
and  he  has  taken  the  eagle  feathers  out  of  his 
hair,  and  has  cut  off  his  scalp-lock,  and  has  be 
come  as  a  woman.  We  hear,  besides,  that  he 
has  been  baptized  and  left  our  religious  lodge 
and  become  one-of-those-who-pray  (a  Chris 
tian).  So  you  see,  my  friends,  that  if  this  is  not 
stopped  our  whole  fabric  will  topple  to  ruin.  If 
one  man  may  do  this  thing,  another  may,  and 
another  and  another,  until  all  our  fathers '  great 
ness  and  glory  is  gone,  and  we  sink  into  con 
tempt  and  weakness.  Who  will  listen  to  us  if 
we  become  like  women,  or  who  will  any  longer 
be  afraid  of  us  I  We  who  are  the  unconquer 
able  Ojibways;  who  whipped  even  the  terrible 
Sioux  out  of  this  land  and  occupy  it  in  their 
stead!  So  you  see  that  all  our  glory  and  our 
greatness,  and  our  very  existence,  depend  upon 
our  doing  something.  We  must  stop  this  leak 
that  has  begun,  or  everything  will  leak  out. 
Wherefore  I  propose,  and  I  am  sure  this  distin 
guished  chief  from  Red  Lake  will  sustain  me  in 
so  reasonable  a  thing,  that  we  unanimously  ad 
monish  Wasegoneshkunk  to  come  back  to  the  re 
ligion  of  his  fathers ;  to  take  off  those  garments 
which  are  unworthy  of  a  warrior,  and  to  put  on 
again  the  Indian's  garb;  to  come  back  into  the 
sacred  lodge  and  sacred  fellowship,  where  we 
will  receive  and  forgive  him.  And  besides, 


418  THE  OJIBWAY 

that  we  pass  a  law,  unanimously,  and  make  it 
strong,  that  in  future  any  one  who  leaves  the 
religion  of  his  fathers  and  becomes  a  Christian 
shall  immediately  be  killed ! 

"If  you  have  made  up  your  minds  to  allow 
this  miserable  man  to  remain  here,  because  you 
derive  some  benefit  from  him  in  the  way  of  food 
or  clothing,  so  be  it,  I  do  not  resist  it,  although  I 
think  differently ;  but  I  only  ask  that  no  one  in 
the  future  shall  leave  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
and  join  his  miserable  religion,  under  penalty  of 
death.  Let  us  agree  that  we  shall  all  bury  our 
tomahawks  in  the  head  of  such  a  one;  and  so 
zealous  am  I  for  our  ancestral  faith  that  I  prom 
ise  you  I  shall  be  the  first  one  to  do  it?  even 
though  it  were  my  own  brother. ' ' 

Loud  applause  and  cries  of  concurrence  in 
these  sentiments,  indicated  by  "How,  how, 
how!"  followed  this  speech;  and  once  more  the 
drums  beat  fast  and  furious,  and  the  dancing 
and  howling  was  of  a  similar  character. 

When  quiet  was  restored  the  old  men  were  not 
in  a  quandary  as  before,  but  had  their  minds 
pretty  well  made  up.  They  were  supported  by 
the  assemblage,  which  was  nearly  unanimous  in 
favor  of  enacting  the  law  proposed  by  Sha-bosh- 
kunk.  Before  they  passed  the  law,  however, 
Medwe-ganonint  rose  of  his  own  account  to  say 
a  few  words  on  the  subject.  They  were  very 
few,  merely  stating  that  in  his  opinion  medicine 
men  often  killed  their  patients  by  worrying  them 
as  they  did;  working  them  over  and  keeping 
them  from  sleep  and  rest.  And  so  far  from  the 
Christian  religion  being  so  bad  as  they  supposed 


THE  OJIBWAY  419 

it  was,  he  did  not  know  but  some  day  he  would 
become  a  Christian  himself,  if  Christianity  came 
within  reach  of  him. 

This  was  .rather  a  damper,  so  great  was  the 
influence  of  the  man ;  but  it  could  not  overcome 
the  almost  unanimous  feeling  of  the  assembly, 
so  with  loud  shouts  of  approval  the  law  of  death 
was  passed.  They  were  not  ready  to  drive  the 
missionary  away,  because  the  benefits  derived 
from  his  presence  were  too  evident;  so  they  en 
deavored  to  retain  those  benefits  and  yet  prevent 
any  damage  to  their  religion  by  the  law.  Hav 
ing  thus  made  everything  secure  the  assembly 
dissolved. 

While  all  this  commotion  over  him  was  going 
on,  the  missionary  was  proceeding  with  his 
labors— holding  his  daily  services,  which  were 
well  attended,  because  the  people,  having 
nothing  else  particularly  to  do,  were  attracted 
to  a  pleasant  way  of  spending  an  hour ;  teaching 
the  children  in  a  boarding-school,  tending  some 
of  them  with  his  own  hands,  who  slept  in  his 
private  room;  working  daily  in  the  field,  work 
ing  on  the  road,  and  attending  to  all  depart 
ments  of  the  mission.  He  got  some  inkling  of 
the  serious  deliberations  which  were  being  held 
looking  to  his  expulsion,  but  kept  on  in  his  quiet- 
way.  When  the  Indians  went  off  in  a  body  on 
distant  hunts  he  sometimes  went  with  them. 
camping  with  them  at  night  on  the  ground,  and 
sharing  their  food.  Although  reared  in  tho  lap 
of  luxury,  he  was  perfectly  able  to  adapt  himself 
to  their  kind  of  life.  He  could  outwalk  any  of 
them,  and  what  particularly  struck  them  was 


420  THE  OJIBWAY 

how,  in  Lent,  he  would  walk  all  day  long  without 
tasting  a  mouthful  of  food,  and  only  at  the  even 
ing  meal  would  break  his  fast.  Yet  they  said 
he  had  a  sweet  smile  on  his  face  all  day. 

The  man  who  had  put  on  the  trousers  did  not 
take  them  off;  and  notwithstanding  the  death 
edict,  one  by  one  they  came  into  the  Christian 
fold.  Here  some  women,  and  there  some  men, 
and  very  many  children  were  baptized;  many 
scalp  locks  were  cut,  and  much  civilized  dress 
donned.  Some  began  to  build  log  houses  for 
themselves,  and  discarded  the  wigwam.  They 
opened  little  fields  for  themselves  and  cultivated 
them.  They  left  off  in  great  measure  their 
wandering  habits  and  settled  down  to  a  more 
orderly  life.  The  voice  of  singing  and  of  joy 
was  everywhere  heard  in  their  village,  and  to 
sing  Christian  hymns  became  a  passion  with 
them.  They  met  often  in  assemblies  of  their 
own;  but  now  it  was  not  to  talk  about  killing 
Sioux,  nor  to  dance  degrading  dances,  but  to 
congratulate  each  other  on  having  escaped  from 
the  dreadful  moral  and  spiritual  dangers 
through  which  they  had  passed,  and  to  urge  each 
other  to  steadfastness  in  the  new,  and  to  them 
very  blessed  life  on  which  they  had  entered. 

Their  numerous  councils  or  dances  had  af 
forded  them  an  outlet  for  their  feelings  in  their 
old  life,  by  furnishing  them  an  opportunity  to 
make  addresses  on  the  subjects  nearest  their 
hearts;  so  did  these  new  meetings  in  this  new 
life.  Now,  however,  both  men  and  women 
spoke.  There  was  no  longer  the  subjection  of 
women,  and  their  efTacement  from  having  any 


THE  OJIBWAY  421 

voice  in  the  affairs  of  the  community.  Both 
now  stood  on  an  equal  footing  in  the  new  king 
dom.  Women  had  the  privilege  of  speaking  of 
things  that  troubled  their  minds,  as  well  as  men. 
They  related  their  past  experiences,  and  their 
hopes  and  fears  for  the  future,  equally  with  the 
other  sex.  These  meetings  had  now  become  of 
almost  daily  occurrence.  In  them  they  ex 
plored  their  past  in  the  light  of  the  new  knowl 
edge  that  had  come  to  them.  In  them  they  en 
deavored  to  correct  that  past  as  far  as  they 
could;  and  by  their  acknowledged  mistakes  to 
guide  themselves  in  the  future. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

BE  SURE  YOUE  SIN  WILL  FIND  YOU  OUT. 

In  one  of  these  meetings  all  those  who  had 
become  Christians  were  present,  and  many  of 
those  who  had  not  yet— attracted  to  hear  what 
the  different  speakers  would  say,  and  perhaps 
with  an  undefined  uneasy  feeling  in  their  own 
minds.  An  atmosphere  of  expectancy  pervaded 
the  assembly.  Nearly  all  the  people  in  the  vil 
lage  were  there,  and  this  day  there  were  many 
addresses  both  by  men  and  women.  In  them 
they  bewailed  their  past — mistakes  which  were 
well  known  to  those  who  listened  to  them;  and 
lamented  the  blindness  of  the  old  life,  which  had 
caused  them  to  fall  into  those  things  which  they 
now  bitterly  regretted.  They  declared  that 
they  had  been  blind  during  their  past  lives,  and 
had  only  just  now  had  their  eyes  opened.  A 
great  many  frank  confessions  were  made.  It 
seemed  to  clear  away  from  their  breasts  their 
loads,  thus  to  openly  spread  before  the  people 
the  things  that  weighed  heavy  on  their  hearts. 
Some  of  them  openly  asked  forgiveness  of  their 
neighbors  to  whom  they  had  done  wrong;  which 
was  readily  accorded,  men  shaking  hands  with 
each  other,  and  women  kissing  each  other  in 
token  of  forgiveness,  while  tears  of  joy  in  some 
cases  streamed  down  their  faces.  Some  who 
had  come  there  with  very  heavy  hearts  had  them 


THE  OJIBWAY  423 

lightened.  There  was  a  general  feeling  of  joy, 
as  if  some  new  treasure  had  been  found.  Even 
those  who  had  not  yet  adopted  the  new  belief 
could  not  help  but  admire  the  spirit  of  sincerity 
and  love,  and  of  mutual  forgiveness,  which  was 
abroad.  Old  misunderstandings  were  cleared 
up.  Friends  long  alienated  were  made  friends 
again,  and  embraced  each  other  in  the  gladness 
of  reconciliation.  A  blessed  day  of  joy  and  of 
mutual  love  seemed  to  have  come  upon  the  com 
munity. 

And  now  all  were  startled  by  a  commotion 
which  arose  in  the  farthest  back  seat  of  the  as 
sembly.  Some  one  there  seemed  to  be  in  deep 
distress.  Instantly  all  eyes  were  turned  in  that 
direction,  and  a  man  who  was  not  yet  a  Chris 
tian  was  seen  on  his  feet,  trying  to  force  his  way 
through  the  ranks  and  get  to  the  front.  He  was 
evidently  laboring  under  strong  excitement  He 
was  trying  to  speak,  but  incoherently,  and  they 
could  not  understand  what  he  said.  There  was 
a  demand,  therefore,  that  he  should  come  to  the 
front  and  address  them  so  they  could  under 
stand  what  this  meant.  He  went  and  faced 
them.  His  emotion  from  some  cause  was  very 
great,  for  he  was  gasping  and  apparently  in 
danger  of  falling  down. 

"My  friends,"  he  began,  but  that  was  all  he 
could  utter.  ' '  My  friends, ' '  he  again  began,  ' '  I 
think  I  am  the  most  miserable  man  in  the  whole 
world;  I  think  there  never  was  a  man  in  this 
world  so  unhappy  as  I,  and  now  coming  in  here, 
and  hearing  you  confessing  your  faults,  one  to 
another,  I  can  keep  it  in  no  longer,  I  must  tell  it 


424  THE  OJIBWAY 

to  you,  my  friends,  if  I  die  the  next  minute. 
Just  wait  till  you  hear  what  trouble  is  on  me, 
and  then  you  will  know  what  I  mean.  All  the 
things  that  I  have  heard  you  confessing  that  you 
have  done— oh,  my  friends,  they  are  as  nothing 
compared  to  what  is  on  me!  But  listening  to 
you  has  started  me  in  what  I  am  now  saying. 

"Let  me  tell  you,  my  friends,  how  I  have  been. 
For  some  time  past  I  have  been  very  sad. 
There  has  been  such  a  sadness  in  my  heart  that 
sometimes  I  thought  I  could  not  live.  That  is 
away  back— before  this  new  religion  came  to  us. 
And  I  thought  to  myself,  what  shall  I  do  to  get 
rid  of  this  terrible  depression.  Not  finding  any 
way  myself,  nor  anything  I  could  do  to  throw  it 
off,  I  asked  the  advice  of  one  of  the  young  men 
of  my  own  age.  He  advised  me  to  join  in  the 
games  with  the  young  men,  and  have  a  good 
time;  that  that  would  cure  me.  I  took  his  ad 
vice,  and  I  joined  in  the  gambling  and  in  the 
dancing  and  drumming,  and  in  all  other  things 
that  people  do  to  find  joy  in.  But  instead  of 
getting  better,  I  got  worse;  my  heart  was 
heavier  in  the  midst  of  all  that  joy  than  it  was 
before.  So  I  found  there  was  no  help  for  me 
there.  Then  after  a  little  this  new  religion 
came,  and  instead  of  giving  me  any  joy  it 
seemed  to  make  me  worse.  Hearing  that  there 
was  a  God,  and  the  different  things  we  hear 
about,  made  me  more  unhappy  than  ever.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  I  hated  God,  and  was  ready  to 
curse  when  His  Name  was  mentioned.  It  is 
true  we  heard  about  gods  in  our  old  religion, 
and  about  one  God  whom  we  called  the  Great 


THE  OJIBWAY  425 

Spirit;  but  it  was  all  so  far  off  that  it  had  no 
concern  with  us.  But  hearing  that  God  is  and 
that  He  is  near  us,  as  we  have  heard  since  this 
new  religion  came,  increased  my  pains.  The 
closer  He  came  to  me  the  more  unhappy  I  was. 
I  heard  some  of  you  speaking  about  joy  that  you 
felt,  and  I  wondered  at  it,  for  instead  of  joy,  it 
brought  me  greater  wretchedness.  I  could 
never  bear  to  go  and  hear  the  missionary 
preaching,  for  it  seemed  to  aggravate  my  sick 
ness.  I  was  ready  to  curse  and  blaspheme 
whenever  he  began.  At  last  I  got  so  desperate 
that  I  knew  I  must  do  something,  so  I  went  to 
one  of  you  Indians  who  is  a  Christian,  and  told 
him  how  sad  I  was,  and  asked  him  what  I  must 
do.  I  did  not  tell  him  what  caused  my  sadness, 
but  only  how  I  felt.  He  thought  a  while,  and 
then  he  advised  me  to  go  out  alone  by  myself 
somewhere  and  pray,  though  I  was  not  one  of- 
those-who-pray,  and  perhaps  that  God  would 
show  me  something,  if  He  was  going  to  have 
mercy  on  me.  I  did  so ;  I  went  away  off  by  my 
self  in  the  woods,  and  I  prayed  and  prayed. 
But  no  answer  came— nothing.  I  was  more  un 
happy  than  before.  To-day,  hearing  that  you 
were  going  to  have  this  meeting,  I  came  in  here 
because  I  must  do  something !  I  was  desperate ; 
that  is  why  I  came  in  here.  I  feel  that  I  cannot 
live  if  something,  I  do  not  know  what,  is  not 
done.  And  hearing  you  confessing  here  to  one 
another  what  things  you  have  done  has  brought 
it  to  a  head,  and  I  feel  that  I  must  confess  what 
I  have  done.  And  when  you  hear  what  I  am 
going  to  say  you  will  not  wonder  at  the  grief 


426  THE  OJIBWAY 

that  has  oppressed  me.  For  some  time  I  had 
forgotten  it,  for  it  is  a  good  while  since  it  hap 
pened;  I  only  remembered  it  when  some  great 
distress  was  on  me,  as  when  I  was  caught  in  the 
blizzard,  or  when  I  was  near  dying  with  the 
famine  last  spring— any  great  distress  like  that 
brought  it  fresh  to  my  mind.  But  for  the  rest 
of  the  time  I  only  knew  that  some  terrible  weight 
of  sadness  was  on  my  heart.  I  only  knew  that 
something  was  very  far  wrong  with  me.  But 
listening  to  you  here  has  made  me  see  clearly 
what  is  the  matter  with  me,  and  when  you  hear 
what  a  terrible  thing  it  is  you  will  not  wonder 
that  I  have  been  nearly  insane. 

"My  friends,  you  think  that  0-kun-di-kun  and 
his  family  were  killed  by  the  Sioux.  You  know 
that  Sioux  beadwork  was  found  there.  No,  my 
friends,  he  was  not  killed  by  Sioux.  He  and  his 
wife  and  family  were  killed  and  scalped  by  me 
and  Sha-bosh-kunk,  and  my  companion,  whom  I 
see  in  here.  Now,  my  friends,  you  know  the 
terrible  load  that  I  have  been  carrying.  We 
started  to  go  to  the  Sioux  country  for  scalps, 
and  it  rained  so  that  we  could  not,  and  we  were 
ashamed  to  return  home  without  going  there,  so 
Sha-bosh-kunk  prevailed  on  us  to  do  that  in 
order  to  save  our  credit,  and  we  were  weak 
enough  to  comply." 

Here  he  noticed  a  man  in  the  rear  of  the  meet 
ing,  and  with  a  bound  he  placed  himself  before 
him.  "Here,"  he  cried,  presenting  to  the  man 
his  big  butcher  knife  and  tearing  open  his  shirt 
and  presenting  his  naked  bosom;  "here,  take 
this  knife;  you  are  the  nephew  of  0-kun-di-kun 


THE  OJIBWAY  427 

who  was  murdered;  you  are  the  nearest  of  kin 
to  him  here ;  take  this  knife  and  drive  it  through 
my  breast!  I  offer  my  bare  breast  to  you.  I 
wish  you  would  do  it,  for  I  would  feel  more 
comfortable  if  this  knife  was  driven  through 
me,  for  I  deserve  it.  I  feel  that  I  would  in  some 
measure  atone  for  what  I  have  done  if  you 
would  kill  me!" 

The  nephew  was  startled;  so  was  the  whole 
assembly.  Nearly  every  one  was  talking,  say 
ing  that  this  or  the  other  thing  ought  to  be  done 
—a  great  confusion.  The  nephew  did  not  seem 
inclined  to  do  the  deed,  and  he  stood  in  a  sort  of 
a  dazed  way  looking  at  the  man  with  his  breast 
open  and  presenting  the  knife.  Here  half  a 
dozen  men  took  hold  of  both  of  them,  and 
dragged  them  apart,  declaring  that  no  such 
thing  should  be  done  until  they  should  con 
sider  it. 

And  now  a  new  sensation  occurred,  for  Trav- 
eling-the-Heavens  pushed  forward  amidst  the 
surging  mass,  and  took  his  stand  beside  The- 
First-Heavens,  and  declared  all  that  he  said  to 
be  true ;  and  furthermore  that  whatever  they  de 
creed  should  be  done  to  his  companion  he  wished 
done  to  him  also,  as  equally  guilty.  He  said, 
moreover,  that  he  was  glad  this  thing  had  come 
out  openly;  that  it  had  long  hung  as  a  heavy 
load  upon  his  heart;  but  that  already,  terrible 
as  was  the  disclosure,  he  felt  lighter  in  mind, 
and  that  whether  he  was  to  die  or  to  live  he  yet 
felt  relieved  by  what  had  happened. 

The  assembly  now  quieted  down,  and  began  to 
deliberate  calmly  on  the  matter.  The  two  com- 


428  THE  OJIBWAY 

panions  were  told  to  sit  down  and  wait  for  the 
decision  that  would  be  given.  They  were  told 
that  they  had  done  their  part,  and  done  well,  in 
telling  about  it;  and  that  they  were  now  to  sub 
mit  themselves  to  whatever  was  thought  best  by 
their  fellows.  The  inquiry  now  went  round, 
where  was  Sha-bosh-kunk  ?  The  very  mention 
of  his  name  produced  execration.  An  agitation 
swept  over  them  when  he  was  named.  He,  how 
ever,  was  not  to  be  found ;  he  never  came  to  any 
of  their  meetings ;  purposely  avoided  them.  He 
had  labored  all  he  could  for  the  death  or  expul 
sion  of  the  missionary,  and,  when  he  had  failed 
he  never  went  near  him  nor  any  Christian  meet 
ings.  Now  when  they  so  much  wished  to  see 
him;  when  they  would  have  torn  him  to  pieces, 
almost  had  they  seen  him,  he  could  net  be 
found.  He  was  off  at  a  distance  hunting.  This 
compelled  reflection,  since  action  was  impos 
sible.  One  of  the  men,  Nawukumigowinini 
(The-man-in-the-centre-of-the-earth),  got  up  to 
address  them. 

"My  friends,"  said  he,  "this  is  most  amaz 
ing  that  we  have  heard  to-day.  I  do  not  mean 
this  in  reference  to  the  two  young  men  who  have 
confessed.  Although  it  is  a  most  terrible  thing 
that  they  have  confessed,  yet  we  feel  sorrow  for 
them  as  well  as  anger.  We  consider  their 
youth ;  that  they  were  not  then  come  to  their  full 
strength  of  mind;  and  we  consider  that  they 
were  under  the  overwhelming  influence  of  their 
leader,  Sha-bosh-kunk.  My  friends,  he  is  the 
man  we  are  all  thinking  of,  and  not  these.  My 
friends,  it  is  amazing.  Some  of  the  speakers 


THE  OJIBWAY  429 

here  to-day,  before  this  thing  came  out,  said 
that  we  were  blind  in  our  old  life.  We  see  now 
that  we  were  blind.  Here  is  this  man  whom  we 
made  our  god,  and  followed  him  and  obeyed  him 
as  if  he  had  been  God.  We  knew  what  sort  of  a 
life  he  had  lived.  We  knew  that  he  had  stolen 
from  a  good  many  of  us,  and  cheated  us.  We 
knew  about  his  going  to  Leech  Lake  and  getting 
those  goods  from  poor  widows  and  poor  people 
with  his  lucifer  match.  And  it  was  he,  my 
friends,  who  caused  the  deaths  of  Big  Wind  and 
Big-Elder-Brother.  He  wrought  on  them  in  a 
devilish  way,  and  made  Big-Elder-Brother,  an 
honest  man,  kill  Big  Wind,  another  honest  man, 
and  then  was  killed  himself.  So  there  were  two 
men,  both  of  them  better  than  himself,  whose 
deaths  he  brought  about  by  his  devilish  cunning. 
And  then  his  good  old  mother,  She-who-is- 
pleased  -  with  -  something-nice-in-her-dish  —  Oh 
what  a  good  woman  she  was !  She  was  with  us 
all  our  lives,  wintering  with  us  and  summering 
with  us,  and  going  in  and  out  among  us,  and  did 
good  to  us  all !  And  yet  we  saw  her  put  out  in 
the  cold  to  die!  And  we  looked  on  and  did 
nothing.  Amazing  it  is!  My  friends,  when 
we  look  back  we  see  that  as  those  speakers 
said,  we  were  blind !  We  thought  we  were  the 
very  best  people ;  and  we  suffered  such  a  thing 
as  that  to  be  done !  An  innocent,  good  woman? 
and  we  knew  her  to  be  good  all  her  life.  I  say, 
my  friends,  it  is  amazing— our  blindness.  And 
then  we  made  the  man  who  did  all  that  our  God ! 
And  we  knew  that  he  had  done  all  these  things ! 
I  do  not  speak  of  this  killing  of  0-kun-di-kun 


430  THE  OJIBWAY 

and  his  family,  for  that  we  did  not  know,  and 
we  are  not  to  blame  for.  He,  such  a  man  as  he, 
said  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  come  to  save  the 
world ;  and  we  believed  him ;  although  we  knew 
all  he  had  done;  and  made  him  our  God!  We 
approached  him  on  our  hands  and  knees !  Just 
think  what  a  monster  we  approached  on  our 
hands  and  knees!" 

Here  another  man  was  seen  trying  to  rise  and 
say  something,  and  the  speaker  gave  way  to 
him.  It  was  Awunanaquot  (Misty  Cloud). 

1 '  My  friends, ' '  he  said,  l '  all  this  brings  to  my 
mind  a  word  that  that  we  lately  heard  read  from 
the  book  that  we  are  told  is  the  Word  of  God.  I 
am  so  stupid  that  though  I  listen  when  it  is  be 
ing  read  I  can  remember  very  little  afterwards 
of  what  I  hear,  oftentimes  nothing  at  all.  I 
suppose  it  is  the  Devil,  who  held  us  in  bondage 
all  our  lives  and  our  fathers  before  us,  who  is 
there  making  us  dull  so  that  we  do  not  under 
stand  nor  remember.  If  it  was  one  of  the  tales 
about  Wenabozho— it  takes  six  months  to  tell 
them  all,  and  yet  they  are  so  fascinating  that  let 
a  child  of  ten  years  even  hear  one  of  them  once, 
he  will  never  forget  it,  but  can  tell  it  fifty  years 
afterwards  word  for  word,  just  as  he  heard  it, 
even  though  he  had  never  heard  it  but  that  one 
single  time.  But  this  which  we  are  told  is  the 
Word  of  God,— and  so  the  most  precious  thing 
in  the  world,— we  may  hear  it,  and  hear  it,  and 
yet  we  will  remember  nothing.  So  it  must  be 
the  Devil.  Nevertheless,  I  do  remember  the 
word  that  I  heard  last  Sunday,  and  it  is  to  speak 
that  word  that  I  disturb  you  now  in  the  midst  of 


THE  OJIBWAY  131 

your  consultations.  The  word  is  this:  '  There 
is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed, 
neither  hid  that  shall  not  be  known.  Therefore 
whatsoever  ye  have  spoken  in  darkness  shall  be 
heard  in  the  light;  and  that  which  ye  have 
spoken  in  the  ear  in  closets  shall  be  heard  upon 
the  housetops/  That  made  a  particular  im 
pression  on  me  when  I  heard  it  read.  I  did  not 
believe  it  then,  but  I  do  believe  it  now.  Here 
was  this  murder  of  0-kun-di-kun  and  his  family 
so  skilfully  covered  up  by  Sha-bosh-kunk,  and 
remaining  unknown  and  unsuspected  so  long  a 
time ;  and  now  it  is  openly  displayed  before  us 
all !  So  we  see  that  the  saying  which  I  have  quot 
ed  is  true.  And  we  may  see  by  this  that  every 
thing,  every  bad  deed  that  has  been  done  in  the 
world,  will  be  openly  known  and  come  abroad ! 
Nothing  shall  be  hid!  While  these  young  men 
were  telling  about  that  deed  of  Sha-bosh-kunk 's 
that  saying  kept  coming  in  my  mind." 

A  man  now  arose  who  said  he  wished  to  say 
just  a  word.  "We  have  been  hearing  in  this 
new  religion  about  a  general  judgment  that  is 
to  be  when  this  world  is  over,"  he  said.  "Per 
haps  we  did  not  believe  it,  but  we  see  now  how  it 
can  be.  Even  here  already  there  is  a  judgment, 
for  everything  is  coming  out.  That  shows  us 
how  easy  it  will  be  for  everything  to  come  out 
hereafter." 

A  woman  in  another  part  of  the  audience  was 
now  seen  endeavoring  to  speak,  and  all  eyes 
were  turned  on  her.  It  was  Red-Sky-of-the 
Morning.  "I  wish  you  would  hear  me  awhile," 
she  said.  "While  that  young  man  was  speaking 


i32  THE  OJIBWAY 

my  heart  was  full.  I  went  with  him  in  every 
word  he  said,  for  I  know  how  he  feels.  I  sup 
pose  I  would  have  kept  this  trouble  within  my 
own  breast  always  and  never  spoken  of  it  to  any 
one.  But  there  is  something  in  the  example  of 
that  young  man  that  spurs  me  on;  something 
that  says  to  me,  'now  do  you  make  confession 
even  as  he  has  done.'  And  there  seems  to  be 
something  in  the  air  here  to-day  which  makes 
this  meeting  a  place  of  casting  away  of  burdens. 
I  think  I  have  the  heaviest  and  the  blackest  of  all. 
I  think  mine  is  heavier  than  even  that  young 
man's.  My  friends,  you  all  know  what  I  have 
done;  how  I  killed  that  Sioux  girl!  That,  al 
though  she  looked  beseechingly  in  my  eyes  and 
asked  me  to  let  her  live,  yet  I  cut  her  with  my 
knife!  Oh  what  I  have  suffered  for  that;  and 
what  I  suffer  this  minute !  When  my  child  was 
dying  in  the  famine,  that  was  what  I  was  think 
ing  of,  and  that  caused  me  more  of  a  pang  than 
my  child 's  death.  I  felt  that  my  child  was  some 
how  safe ;  that  it  was  better,  in  one  way,  for  the 
child  to  die  then  and  escape  suffering  all  that 
we  have  suffered.  But  I  felt  that  I  was  the  one 
in  great  danger ;  I  knew  I  was  not  ready  to  die, 
and  yet  I  was  going  to  die.  I  kept  asking  myself, 
When  the  time  comes  for  you  to  die  like  this, 
can  you  die  1 '  And  I  had  to  anwser  that  I  could 
not.  I  saw  that  that  deed  that  I  had  done  to 
that  girl  was  following  me.  I  saw  it  was  the 
cause  of  my  child's  death.  I  saw  it  would  prob 
ably  take  all  my  other  children,  and  then  not.be 
satisfied;  be  just  as  hungry  pursuing  me  as  it 
was  before.  So  that  is  why  I  rise  in  this  meet- 


THE  OJIBWAY  433 

ing  and  confess  to  you  what  I  did,  thinking  that 
if  you  can  forgive  me,  God  will,  perhaps,  forgive 
me.  It  is  only  lately  that  God  has  come  to  us; 
for  though  we  sometimes  spoke  of  Him  in  our 
old  life,  He  was  so  far  away  that  He  had  no 
concern  with  us.  Now,  if  you  wish  to  kill  me, 
I  am  perfectly  satisfied  to  have  you  kill  me.  I, 
a  woman,  showed  no  mercy  to  my  fellow-woman, 
and  I  ought  not  to  expect  mercy  to  be  shown 
to  me.  I  was  foolish  and  blinded.  I  had  gained 
her  by  my  plea,  and  I  thought  I  had  as  good  a 
right  to  exercise  my  right  over  her  as  any  of  our 
men  had,  and  although  I  sometimes  relented, 
yet  I  could  not  bear  to  let  her  go  out  of  my 
hands,  so  I  killed  her!  Oh,  I  think  I  am  the 
most  unhappy  woman  in  this  assembly !  I  think 
I  am  the  most  wretched  woman  that  ever  was ! 
Who  but  I  ever  deliberately  killed  her  fellow- 
woman  begging  for  life!  We  see  how  deeply 
killing  had  become  ingrained  in  us,  that  even 
we  women  killed  our  fellow-women. ' ' 

Here  there  was  a  movement  in  another  part 
of  the  meeting  and  another  woman  was  standing 
up,  evidently  wishing  to  speak.  Everybody 
looked  to  hear  what  she  had  to  say.  She  was 
Mizhagamegizhikok  ( The-woman-who-lands-in- 
Heaven-f rom-her-canoe) .  ' '  Misty  Cloud  is  not 
the  only  one,"  she  said,  "who  is  able  to  remem 
ber  a  good  word.  I  suppose  I  am  more  stupid 
than  he ;  I  suppose  I  am  the  most  stupid  of  all 
the  Indians/' —this  she  said  with  genuine  hu 
mility,— "and  I  do  not  know  any  of  the  crooked 
tracks  that  the  white  people  call  letters,  and  so 
cannot  gain  any  information  for  myself  from 


434  THE  OJIBWAY 

books,  but  have  to  depend  entirely  on  what  I  can 
gather  from  other  people  by  my  two  miserable 
ears. .  But  yet  I  made  some  use  of  them,  though 
I  am  stupid ;  for  as  I  say,  I  remember  one  word. 
It  was  at  the  Holy-mutual-putting-a-bite-in- 
each-other 's-mouth  (The  Holy  Communion).  I 
have  been  to  that  twice,  I  believe,  and  there  I 
heard  this  word  that  I  am  going  to  tell  to  you. 
I  do  not  remember,  and  I  did  not  very  well 
understand  the  many  other  sayings  that  were 
read  in  that  service ;  but  this  one  saying  seemed 
to  be  so  suitable  to  me,  and  just  what  I  needed, 
that  I  suppose  on  that  account  I  remembered 
it.  It  was  this:  'This  is  a  true  saying  and 
worthy  of  all  men  to  be  received,  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.' 
When  it  was  read  it  passed  upon  my  mind  like 
a  flash  of  fire,  and  immediately  afterwards  my 
heart  was  filled  with  joy  and  with  deep  thank 
fulness  to  the  One  Who  did  save  sinners.  From 
the  joy  and  gratitude  I  felt  I  know  it  was  God 
Who  applied  it  to  my  case.  I  knew  myself  to 
be  a  sinner,  and  a  great  sinner,  as  I  suppose  we 
all  were,  and  more  than  that,  our  missionary 
happened  to  preach  a  sermon  on  those  very 
words,  and  he  explained  to  us  that  that  was  a 
saying  going  round  among  the  first  ones  who 
were  of  the  fellowship  of  Those-who-pray,  and 
which  they  comforted  each  other  with.  I  am 
sure  we  do  not  know  who  they  were  nor  where 
they  lived;  whether  in  this  island  (America)  or 
beyond  the  salt  sea  that  we  hear  exists;  nor 
when  they  lived;  but  he  told  us  that  they  had 
been  bad-living  people,  just  as  we  were  when 


THE  OJIBWAY  435 

we  were  in  darkness,  and  that  they  passed  this 
around  among  them  as  a  proverb  or  good  say 
ing  to  comfort  themselves  with  when  they 
thought  of  all  the  bad  things  that  they  had  done. 
They  repeated  then  to  one  another,  '  that  Christ 
Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,7  and 
that  took  away  all  the  terror  arising  from  think 
ing  of  the  bad  deeds  they  had  done.  So  I  say 
to  my  sister,  Red-sky-of-the-morning,  and  I  say 
to  The-First-Heavens  and  to  Traveling-the- 
Heavens,  who  have  confessed,  not  to  be  too  much 
cast  down  about  this  thing.  Those  are  very  sad 
and  sorrowful  things  that  they  have  done;  but 
they  are  not  the  only  ones,  and  if  we  would  all 
begin  and  confess,  who  is  there  among  us  that 
is  clear?  If  there  is  not  one  thing,  there  is 
another  with  all  of  us.  Every  one  of  us  has 
something  or  other.  Let  us  rely  on  that  good 
word  that  I  happened  to  remember  and  which 
I  have  quoted,  and  let  us  not  be  too  much  cast 
down. ' ' 

When  she  sat  down,  a  man,  Azhawukumigweb 
(He-sits-across-the-earth),  said:  "Very  often 
it  is  a  woman  who  shows  the  way  out  of  a  diffi 
culty  or  out  of  danger.  It  was  a  woman,  The 
Lynx's  wife,  who  showed  the  party  what  to 
do  in  the  blizzard,  by  which  their  lives  were  pre 
served.  And  I  think  that  this  woman  who  has 
just  spoken  has  pointed  us  out  the  way  of  life. 
We  have  got  into  a  hole,  and  a  very  bad  one,  by 
our  evil  lives  in  our  ignorance,  and  I  am  satis 
fied  that  this  woman  has  pointed  the  road  out. 
Let  us  remember  what  she  has  told  us." 

And  now  there  rose  one  whom  every  one  was 


436  THE  OJIBWAY 

surprised  to  see  stand  up,  for  he  was  about  the 
last  one  that  they  thought  would  address  them 
in  such  a  place.  It  was  ' '  The  Sioux, ' '  the  hero 
of  many  an  exploit. 

"My  friends, "  he  said,  "I  see  you  are  sur 
prised  to  see  me  stand  up  to  address  you  in  such 
a  place  as  this.  Indeed  I  am  surprised  at  my 
self.  You  know  my  past  life.  That  is,  you  think 
you  do,  but  really  you  do  not.  You  know  how 
I  went  and  killed  my  own  uncles,  and  brought 
home  their  scalps.  You  applauded  it  in  the 
days  of  your  ignorance,  and  I  felt  proud  of  it. 
Now  I  loathe  it.  I  see  that  I  was  the  Devil's 
chief  servant.  I  thought  then  that  I  was  a  good- 
living  man  because  I  never  killed  any  of  my 
fellow  Ojibways.  Oh,  how  I  was  blinded !  And 
you  know  how  I  treacherously  killed  the  old 
Sioux  and  his  daughter  and  family  on  the 
prairie.  We  flattered  ourselves  in  those  days 
that  we  were  reducing  the  number  of  our 
enemies  and  so  were  doing  a  good  thing  by 
killing  them.  But  it  was  not  so.  All  the  inno 
cent  children  and  women  whom  we  killed  made 
no  appreciable  difference  in  the  number  of  our 
enemies,  nor  the  men  either.  The  truth  is,  that 
we  did  it  through  the  wickedness  of  our  own 
hearts.  If  we  had  let  them  live  it  would  have 
been  of  no  disadvantage  to  us.  We  see  now 
that  we  causelessly  injured  and  destroyed  inno 
cent  and  helpless  women  and  children  who 
never  would  have  done  us  any  harm.  We  see 
now  that  all  the  miserv  that  Sioux  and  Ojibways 
inflicted  on  each  other  was  useless.  It  was  the 
Devil,  whom  we  both  served,  who  made  us  do  it. 


THE  OJIBWAY  437 

And  those  whom  I  have  mentioned  are  not  the 
only  Sioux  that  I  have  killed.  But  I  have  done 
more  than  that,  my  friends,  more  than  any  of 
you  know  of.  I  went  once  toward  the  white 
man's  country  a  great  many  days'  journey  to 
visit  some  Ojibways  there;  away  over  toward 
the  river  that  is  called  Gigo-shekumot— (St. 
Croix  river).  When  I  was  near  that  place  I 
saw  a  family  of  those  whom  we  call  The  Chip 
munks  (The  Swedes),  because  when  they  first 
settle  on  land,  being  poor,  they  have  no  money 
to  build  a  house,  and  so  burrow  in  a  bank  of 
earth,  like  chipmunks,  till  they  get  money 
enough  to  build  them  a  house.  There  I  saw  the 
little  tow-headed  children,  with  white  skins  and 
red  cheeks  and  eyes  as  blue  as  the  sky,  playing 
about  the  door.  What  do  you  think  I  did!  I 
killed  the  whole  family.  Why  did  I  do  it!  It 
was  not  any  advantage  to  me.  They  were  poor 
and  nothing  that  they  had  could  profit  me.  Why 
did  I  do  it?  It  was  because  I  had  got  so  used 
to  killing  that  I  wanted  to  kill  more  and  more. 
Thai  was  the  dreadful  curse  that  was  on  me; 
that  was  my  dreadful  punishment,  that  the  more 
I  killed  the  more  I  wanted  to  kill.  And  as  you 
may  imagine,  that  was  not  the  last  family  of 
whites  that  I  killed.  I  was  out  hunting  with  one 
of  my  young  men,  when  we  came  on  the  house 
of  a  Long  Knife  (American)  whom  I  knew.  I 
incited  my  young  man  to  join  me  in  killing  that 
family.  He  did  not  wish  to,  but  I  overper- 
suaded  and  forced  him.  So  we  shot  the  father 
through  the  window  in  the  evening,  and  then 
went  in  and  killed  the  mother  and  all  the  chil- 


438  THE  OJIBWAY 

dren  with  our  tomahawks.  Then  we  took  what 
we  wanted  and  set  fire  to  the  house  and  burned 
them  all  up  to  cover  up  what  we  had  done.  My 
friends,  that  is  what  grows  out  of  killing  Sioux ! 
The-First-Heavens,  who  has  spoken  here, 
thought  he  had  a  load  on  his  mind,  and  by  the 
way  he  was  gasping  and  staggering  we  could 
see  that  it  was  as  much  as  he  could  bear,  and 
Red-Sky-of-the-Morning  thought  she  was  the 
most  unhappy  woman  living.  But  what  a  light 
grief  is  theirs  compared  with  what  lies  on  me ! 
It  is  as  nothing.  I  have  opened  my  trouble  to 
you,  and  you  see  how  vast  it  is.  My  friends,  I 
never  thought  to  have  made  to  any  human  being 
the  confession  I  have  made  here  to-day;  but 
listening  to  those  who  have  spoken  has  drawn 
it  from  me  in  spite  of  myself.  You  see  before 
you  the  most  unhappy  man  there  is  living.  I 
suppose  the  whites  would  kill  me  as  soon  as  they 
find. me,  but  that  is  nothing.  Now  I  have  shown 
you  the  depth  of  my  grief." 

Pi-zhi-ki  (The  Buffalo)  now  rose  and  wished 
to  speak.  "My  friends, "  said  he,  "I  wish  you 
to  notice  what  my  namesake  the  buffalo  teaches 
us  about  these  matters,  and  about  these  confes 
sions  that  we  have  heard.  We  have  often 
secretly  watched  my  namesake  feeding,  when  we 
were  lying  hidden,  perhaps,  in  a  grove.  What 
does  he  do?  He  reaches  out  his  long  tongue 
and  with  a  swirl  he  draws  all  the  grass  within 
reach  of  it  into  his  mouth.  He  swallows  it  down 
and  then  reaches  out  his  tongue  for  more ;  and 
so  he  keeps  on  until  he  has  filled  his  stomach. 
Then  he  lies  down.  He  has  had  enough.  What 


THE  OJIBWAY  439 

does  he  do  next?  He  brings  every  bit  of  what 
he  has  swallowed  down  so  greedily,  up  back 
into  his  month,  and  tastes  it  all  over  again  at  his 
leisure,  and  if  he  has  eaten  sweet  and  wholesome 
grass  he  finds  the  taste  of  it  very  good,  and  if 
he  has  swallowed  down  bitter  and  poisonous 
stuff  he  has  again  to  feel  it  in  his  mouth  and  to 
find  it  indeed  bitter  and  poisonous.  So  we  in 
our  life,  like  my  namesake  the  buffalo,  have 
been  greedily  swallowing  down  all  sorts  of 
things:  and  we  thought  it  made  no  difference; 
that  that  was  the  end ;  but  no,  we  find,  like  him, 
that  we  have  to  'chew  it  all  over  again  at  our 
leisure.  If  we  had  watched  the  buffalo  to  take 
a  lesson  from  him  he  would  have  taught  us  to 
put  only  sweet  and  wholesome  stuff  into  our 
stomachs,  for  we  find  the  bad  inexpressibly 
bitter  when  we  come  to  taste  it  over  again,  and 
the  taste  remains. " 

"I,"  said  Ga-wi-ta-we-we-dunk  He-who-goes- 
around-where-we-are-hallooing), rising  to  speak, 
"will  not  take  a  parable  from  the  buffalo,  as 
that  man  has  done,  but  from  ourselves.  You 
know,  my  friends,  how  it  is  when  we  have  eaten 
something  that  has  disagreed  with  us.  We  try 
to  keep  it  down,  but  no !  we  get  sicker  and  sicker, 
and  more  and  more  uncomfortable ;  and  though 
we  try  to  put  something  on  the  top  of  it  to  keep 
it  down,  or  drink  something,  yet  our  distress 
becomes  greater  and  greater,  and  there  is  no 
relief  for  us  until  we  have  vomited  it  up.  Then 
at  last  we  are  rid  of  it,  and  have  ease,  but  not 
before.  We  have  been  swallowing  down  all 
sorts  of  things  in  our  old  life,  and  today  they 


440  THE  OJIBWAY 

are  making  us  very  sick;  and  I  say  that  'The 
Sioux'  and  Red-Sky-of  the  morning,  and  The- 
First-Heavens,  and  the  others  have  taken  the 
only  sensible  course  in  vomiting  these  things  all 
up  out  of  their  stomachs— they  will  be  well  now. 
But,  my  friends,  neither  you  nor  I,  nor  any  one 
in  the  world  can  know  what  it  is  to  be  well  while 
vainly  struggling  to  keep  these  things  down, 
which  yet  in  spite  of  all  our  efforts  will  make 
us  sicker  and  sicker  until  they  force  themselves 
out  at  the  last.  And  if  we  did  succeed  in  keep 
ing  them  down  and  in  us  they  would  kill  us !  Let 
us  learn  from  what  we  see  takes  place  in  our 
bodies,  to  know  how  to  treat  the  maladies  of 
our  souls. M 

"I  want  to  say  a  word,"  said  Yellow  Thunder, 
standing  up,  " about  what  that  man,  'The 
Sioux,'  has  just  said  about  its  being  useless  for 
us  Ojibways  to  think  that  we  would  do  any  good 
by  killing  a  few  Sioux  and  so  reducing  the  num 
ber  of  our  enemies.  It  was  useless,  and  our 
killing  a  few  innocent  women  or  children,  or  even 
killing  a  few  men,  made  no  difference  in  their 
numbers  and  did  us  no  good.  It  was  the  wicked 
ness  of  our  hearts,  I  suppose,  that  made  us  do  it, 
and  we  merely  got  up  that  pretext  of  reducing 
their  numbers  as  a  cloak  for  what  we  wanted 
to  do.  And  all  that  which  came  down  to  us 
from  our  forefathers,  about  doing  honor  to  a 
dead  child  by  putting  a  lock  of  their  hair  or  a 
toy  in  the  bowels  of  a  slain  enemy,  we  see  now 
to  have  been  bad  and  wrong.  It  was  the  Devil 
who  had  possession  of  us  at  that  time,  and  he 
incited  us  to  do  those  things  that  we  did.  Oh, 


THE  OJIBWAY  441 

how  devil-ridden  we  were— both  the  Sioux  and 
we!  What  misery  we  inflicted  on  each  other, 
they  on  us  and  we  on  them ;  and  it  was  all  en 
tirely  useless.  What  a  life  of  constant  fear  and 
apprehension  we  lived  in  on  account  of  that 
thing!  We  could  not  enjoy  this  beautiful  world 
that  God  gave  us,  because  we  made  our  lives  a 
hell,  by  butchery,  and  by  that  fear  ever  hanging 
over  us.  We  see  now  how  much  better  it  would 
have  been  to  have  enjoyed  the  good  things  of 
this  life  in  peace,  and  to  have  let  each  other 
alone.  But  no !  the  Devil  was  our  master  in 
those  days  and  he  must  drive  us  into  that  ex 
treme  misery.  When  I  think  of  how  we  suffered 
from  fear,  all  spring  and  summer  long,  and 
sometimes  mooring  our  little  children  out  on  the 
lake  in  canoes  for  weeks  at  a  time,  I  shudder  at 
the  recollection  of  it.  We  made  our  lives  very 
miserable  by  our  blindness.  And  you  know,  my 
friends,  that  I  was  one  of  those  who  went  on  a 
war-party — yes,  who  got  up  a  war-party — and 
went  and  killed  innocent  women  and  children, 
as  well  as  men,  and  took  their  scalps  and 
brought  them  home  and  danced  over  them ;  you 
know  all  that.  So  I  now  publicly  acknowledge 
my  error,  and  say  it  was  all  wrong.  And  you 
know  I  was  one  of  those  who  brought  home  that 
poor  Sioux  girl  who  perished  here  among  us,  so 
I  feel  that  I  am  partly  to  blame  for  that.  Not 
Red-Sky-of-the-morning  only,  but  I  also.  I 
thought  in  those  days  that  I  was  doing 
a  good  thing;  now  I  see  how  blind  I  was.  The 
Devil  blinded  me,  whom  I  loved  and  whom  £ 
served.  Now  I  have  thrown  him  off "— here  he 


442  THE  OJIBWAY 

made  a  motion  of  throwing  him  off,— "  and  will 
trample  on  him  every  day, ' '  —here  he  trampled 
with  his  foot  on  the  earth,— "  and  oh,  how  I 
loathe  my  old  life !  So  I  ask  God  to  forgive  me ; 
and  you  also,  my  friends,  who  have  known  all 
that  I  have  done." 

Here  another  man  rose  to  speak.  It  was 
Good-Sounding-Sky,  the  great  hereditary  Grand 
Medicine-man.  "I  wish  to  speak,  my  friends, 
of  a  different  thing  from  that  which  the  man 
who  has  just  sat  down  has  spoken  to  you  about. 
Although  it  is  true  that  I  am  equally  to  blame 
with  him  about  that  war-party,  and  killing  those 
innocent  people,  and  bringing  that  captive,  I 
wish  to  speak  to  you  about  my  Grand  Medicine. 
You  know  that  I  am  far  the  foremost  man  in 
the  Ojibway  nation  in  the  Grand  Medicine,  and 
so  was  my  father  before  me.  You  know  how  the 
sick  were  carried  to  me  from  all  the  villages  of 
the  Ojibways— two  and  three  and  even  as  much 
as  seven  days'  march  distant— for  me  to  cure 
them.  You  know  the  presents  of  blankets  and 
food  and  furs  and  every  imaginable  thing  that 
I  received.  I  made  myself  hoarse  and  I  made 
myself  tired— Oh,  how  exhausted  I  was— calling 
on  endless  names  of  spirits  to  help  me;  spirits 
under  the  lakes  and  under  the  rivers,  spirits 
everywhere ;  and  shaking  my  rattle,  and  beating 
my  drum,  and  chanting  my  medicine  songs,  and 
working  over  the  sick,  for  days  and  days  at  a 
time.  And  I  say  to  you  now,  I,  the  foremost 
Medicine-man  in  the  whole  nation,  after  having 
tried  to  the  full  all  that  our  fathers  left  us  in 
the  way  of  knowledge;  after  having  made  the 


THE  OJIBWAY  443 

utmost  proof  of  it  more  than  any  other  man— I 
say  to  you  that  there  is  nothing  in  it.  I  say  that 
we  have  inherited  from  our  fathers,  lies,  vanity, 
and  things  wherein  there  is  no  profit.  And  I 
publicly  declare  here  that  I  shall  bury  all  the 
instruments  of  my  craft,— my  drum  and  my 
rattle,  and  my  medicine-bag,  and  all  my  medi 
cines,— and  that  I  shall  practice  my  art  no  more. 
I  will  not  give  them  away,  for  fear  some  person 
might  use  them;  but  I  shall  bury  them  so 
no  person  can  use  them.  When  I  first  began  to 
hear  this  new  doctrine  there  was  some  one  stood 
at  my  elbow  and  said,  'Do  not  listen,  do  not 
listen. '  I  could  almost  hear  the  voice.  Then  I 
v^ould  take  my  drum  and  beat  it  violently,  so  as 
io  shut  out  the  sound  of  what  the  missionary  was 
saying,  both  from  myself  and  from  others.  I 
know  now  that  it  was  the  Devil  who  was  at  my 
elbow,  and  said  to  me,  'Do  not  listen*/  but  I,  like 
Yellow  Thunder,  am  trampling  on  him,  and  shall 
every  day  of  my  life.  And  it  was  the  Devil  or 
one  of  his  spirits  who  came  to  me  in  the  che-suk- 
an  when  practicing  sorcery  to  find  out  about  the 
future,  as  when  calling  upon  him  to  know  wheth 
er  Yellow  Thunder 's  daughter  would  live  or  not. 
There  was  a  power  in  our  old  religion ;  a  malign 
power;  from  the  evil  spirits  whom  we  invoked; 
whom  we  loved  and  whom  we  served,  and  to 
whom  we  gave  ourselves.  We  called  them  to 
come  to  us ;  we  invited  them ;  we  implored  them ; 
and  it  was  our  punishment  that  they  did.  I 
used  to  think  my  Grand  Medicine  the  greatest 
thing  in  the  world,  now  I  think  it  just  about  so 
much  "—showing  the  thickness  of  his  nail— "  in 


444  THE  OJIBWAY 

comparison  with  this  that  has  been  brought  to 
us,  and  I  acknowledge  with  the  last  speaker  that 
I  have  been  blind  all  my  life,  and  have  only  just 
now  received  my  sight."  These  words  from 
such  a  source  were  a  great  surprise. 

Here  a  woman  arose,  Omayaosek  (The- 
woman-general-of-the-army),  and  said  she  had 
something  to  say  about  this.  ' i  My  friends, ' '  she 
said,  "I  wish  to  deal  first  with  the  cases  of  The- 
First-Heavens  and  his  companions,  and  with 
Red-Sky-of-the-Morning,  reserving  the  case  of 
"The  Sioux'  for  the  last,  because  it  has  different 
features  from  the  others,  and  requires  to  be 
separately  dealt  with.  I  shall  speak  of  that  last. 
The-man-in-the-centre-of  -the  -earth  and  Misty 
Cloud  have  quoted  to  you  words  from  the  Scrip 
ture.  Now  I  want  you  to  know  that  I  also  am 
capable  of  remembering  a  word  when  I  hear  it. 
I  have  a  brain  in  my  body  and  not  all  words 
escape  me.  And  I  think  I  know  a  word  that  I 
listened  to  lately  when  it  was  read  in  church, 
which  tells  us  what  we  ought  to  do  to  these  who 
are  so  sorrowful,  these  who  have  addressed  us, 
and  made  confessions  here  before  us.  It  is  this 
—I  remember  every  word  of  it:  'So  that  con- 
trarywise  you  ought  rather  to  forgive  him  and 
comfort  him,  lest  such  a  one  should  be  swallowed 
up  with  his  overmuch  sorrow.'  You  see  the 
condition  that  these  are  now  in.  They  are  so 
weighed  down  to  the  lowest  depths  with  sorrow 
that  if  we  do  not  do  something  to  them  they  will 
become  desperate,  and  very  likely  kill  them 
selves.  They  are  in  danger  of  being  swallowed 
up  with  their  overmuch  sorrow.  And  I  remem- 


THE  OJIBWAY  445 

ber  that  near  the  same  place  there  is  a  word 
that  speaks  that  we  should  take  care  that  the 
Devil  does  not  get  an  advantage  over  us  through 
their  overmuch  sorrow.  That  is  what  he  is  now 
in  danger  of  doing  to  these  poor  people  if  we 
do  not  prevent  him.  He  first  set  them  on  to 
killing  those  people ;  we  all  know  very  well  that 
he  did  that.  And  now  having  got  them  to  do  it, 
he  is  trying  to  drive  them  to  despair  by  making 
them  think  that  what  they  have  done  is  so  bad 
they  are  beyond  reach  of  forgiveness,  so  that 
they  will  not  go  to  God  for  mercy,  but  make 
away  with  themselves  or  become  reckless  and 
desperate.  And  then  he  will  have  got  them  for 
ever  and  ever.  He  will  rule  over  them  in  the 
Bad  Fire  (hell),  and  that  is  what  he  is  now  com 
ing  pretty  close  on  doing.  So  we  must  do  some 
thing  quickly  to  save  these  people,  and  I  shall 
tell  you  what  it  is.  It  is  that  every  one  of  us 
who  are  Christians  shall  rise  and  kiss  and  shake 
hands  with  these  people,  and  tell  them  not  to 
grieve  too  much  about  what  they  have  done,  but 
to  trust  in  God.  In  that  way  we  are  to  do  as  the 
Word  tells  us,  'confirm  our  love  toward  them.' 
We  are  to  tell  them  that  we  forgive  them;  and 
what  is  the  word  that  we  so  often  hear!— ' Ye 
are  the  body  of  Christ.'  If  we  who  are  the  body 
of  Christ  forgive  them,  that  means  that  Christ, 
Who  is  the  Head,  has  forgiven  them,  and  that 
they  are  to  grieve  no  more,  and  we  are  to  tell 
them  so.  And  I  say  the  same  to  'The  Sioux/ 
who  has  told  us  what  he  has  done.  I  tell  him  to 
remember  the  word  that  The-woman-who-lands- 
in-Heaven-from-her-canoe  quoted  'that  Christ 


446  THE  OJIBWAY 

Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners.' 
And  I  wish  to  give  him  for  his  consolation  this 
further  word  from  myself  which  I  remember, 
4  If  we  walk  in  the  light  we  have  fellowship  one 
with  another,  and  the  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ  His 
Son  cleanses  us  from  all  sin. '  Then  why  should 
we  fear!  Let  us  rely  on  that  word.  It  is 
sad  that  he  has  done  what  he  has,  but  there 
is  great  virtue  in  repentance.  If  the  white 
people  come  upon  him  for  what  he  has  done, 
and  execute  him,  he  must  stand  that  as  well 
as  he  can.  That  is  his  punishment  in  this 
world  which  he  must  bear.  But  God  will  save 
him  in  the  world  to  come  if  he  does  what  I  say. 
We  have  nothing  to  do  with  what  the  white 
people  may  do  to  him,  neither  to  tell  them  nor 
not  to  tell  them.  We  must  leave  that  to  God 
to  do  about  that  as  He  sees  best.  Now  I  am 
going  to  begin,  and  I  want  every  one  of  you  men 
and  women  here  who  belong  to  Those-who-pray 
to  follow  my  example,  that  we  may  save  these 
people. " 

With  that  she  went  to  Red-Sky-of-the-Morning 
and,  putting  her  arms  about  her,  kissed  her 
heartily,  and  said  a  few  words  of  encouragement 
to  her.  Then  she  went  and  kissed  each  of  the 
three  men  in  succession,  and  told  them  to  trust 
in  God  and  not  to  grieve.  In  this  she  was  fol 
lowed  by  every  woman  of  the  Christian  band, 
who  kissed  and  addressed  encouraging  words  to 
each.  The  men  followed,  shaking  hands  with 
each  one  and  addressing  to  them  words  of  cheer. 
All  the  assembly  was  in  motion  while  this  was 
going  on,  either  shaking  hands,  or  moving  about, 


THE  OJIBWAY  447 

or  speaking  to  the  sorrowful  ones  who  were  the 
objects  of  all  this  attention.  As  for  them,  they 
appeared  visibly  comforted.  As  one  after  anoth 
er  kissed  them  or  shook  hands  with  them  and 
comforted  them,  they  looked  up;  their  hearts 
were  touched  with  this  Christian  Iove4  and  they 
were  no  longer  the  woe-begone  beings  they  had 
been  before.  They  felt  their  heavy  burdens  roll 
ing  off.  They  felt  that  God  forgave  them  when 
they  saw  so  much  love  in  the  faces  of  His  people, 
and  in  their  actions. 

The- Woman-G  eneral-of- the- Army,  who  had 
now  taken  the  lead  and  was  the  one  who  said 
what  should  be  done,  evidently  because  she  was 
the  one  who  saw  clearly  what  ought  to  be  done 
and  did  it,  passing  over  even  the  men,  now  had 
a  final  word  to  say  about  these  newly  reconciled 
ones.  She  said  she  wanted  them  brought  imme 
diately  to  the  missionary  to  be  baptized,  for  that 
she  remembered  what  he  had  said,  that  if  one's 
hands  or  one's  face  were  very  dirty  and  the 
person  took  water  and  washed,  then  the  filth 
would  all  be  removed  and  the  person  be  clean ; 
that  so  in  the  water  of  baptism  the  soul  was 
washed  from  all  the  filth  of  sin  and  made  clean. 
She  said  these  persons'  sins  were  upon  them 
still,  and  would  be  till  they  were  baptized,  so 
she  wanted  them  to  be  baptized  at  once.  She 
said  there  were  sponsors  wanted,  who  would 
vouch  for  them  in  the  future,  and  she  called  for 
volunteers  who  would  act  in  that  capacity.  In 
stantly  there  uprose  many,  men  and  women, 
each  saying  "  I. "  She  selected  those  she  thought 


448  THE  OJIBWAY 

proper,  and  they  took  the  candidates  and 
marched  them  off  to  seek  the  missionary,  telling 
him  what  had  happened,  and  asking  him  to  bap 
tize  them. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

RETBIBUTION. 

While  they  were  gone  there  was  still  a  very 
important  question  to  be  decided— what  was  to 
be  done  with  Sha-bosh-kunk.  To  this  they  now 
addressed  themselves.  One  and  all  spoke  of 
him  with  detestation.  They  recounted  again 
how  he  had  deceived  them,  abused  them,  and 
set  himself  up  for  them  to  worship  as  the  Son 
of  God,  while  inwardly  full  of  the  greatest 
enormities.  They  recalled  again  his  aged 
mother's  end— a  thing  they  thought  little  about 
at  the  time,  but  which  in  the  light  in  which  they 
now  stood  they  saw  to  have  been  most  abomina 
ble.  They  recalled  Big  Wind  and  Big-Elder- 
Brother,  and  their  sad  fate  brought  about  by 
him.  In  fact,  the  speakers  could  hardly  bring 
themselves  to  an  end  when  they  began  to  speak 
of  him.  However,  it  would  do  no  good  to  talk 
on  in  that  way— the  question  was,  what  was  to 
be  done  with  him. 

The  first  thing  that  suggested  itself  to  all  was 
to  kill  him.  Some  of  them  advocated  going  and 
as  many  as  could  get  at  him  burying  their  toma 
hawks  in  his  head.  They  considered  for  awhile 
that  proposition.  They  all  agreed  that  he 
deserved  it;  that  it  would  be  a  light  punishment 
for  what  he  had  done.  They  said  it  would  take 
many  deaths  to  atone  for  the  deaths  he  had 


450  THE  OJIBWAY 

caused.  But  could  they  do  it?  Some,  it  is  true, 
were  in  favor  of  it ;  but  the  larger  part  thought 
that  in  the  new  life  on  which  they  had  entered 
they  should  not  kill  any  one.  In  their  old  life 
they  said  that  is  what  they  would  immediately 
have  done,  but  in  this  new  life  they  could  not. 

Then  they  discussed  allowing  him  to  live  on 
in  their  village,  but  this  they  were  unanimously 
averse  to.  Finally,  not  knowing  what  to  do, 
and  after  they  had  discussed  it  a  long  time  with 
out  finding  just  the  right  thing  to  do,  they  agreed 
as  a  compromise  measure  to  call  him  into  their 
council  and  then  to  be  guided  by  circumstances, 
or  to  some  extent  by  how  he  would  conduct  him 
self.  Accordingly,  messengers  were  dispatched 
to  his  wigwam  to  summon  him,  for  he  had  by 
this  time  returned  from  his  hunt.  By  the  mes 
sengers  also  they  sent  word  to  him  to  repent,  for 
with  their  new  principles  fresh  in  their  minds 
they  had  the  wish  even  for  Sha-bosh-kunk  that 
he  should  repent.  Amidst  all  their  hot  indigna 
tion  against  him  there  was  mingled  that  touch  of 
pity  for  him— the  wish  that  he  might  come  to 
a  better  mind. 

His  answer  to  the  messengers  was  a  refusal 
to  go,  nor  would  he  give  any  satisfaction  to  them 
in  any  way.  In  answer  to  their  request  that  he 
should  repent  he  gave  only  the  hard,  cold 
answer,  "I  will  not  repent.  What  have  I  done 
that  I  should  repent  f "  He  would  remain  just 
as  he  was;  would  never  change  as  long  as  he 
lived ! 

When  this  answer  was  reported  to  them  their 
indignation  was  more  hot  against  him  than  ever. 


GAMBLING  SONG.-Ojibway, 


Transcribed  and  harmonized 
by  EDWIN  S.  TRAC 

I  I  31 


-9.  -y-  «=        -f-  -f- 


— 1  '  r    r "    "  r— 


H?: 


452  THE  OJIBWAY 

Earnestly  did  they  wish  to  go  and  tear  him  to 
pieces,  but  their  new  principles  forbade.  At 
last,  moved  by  a  common  impulse,  they  decided 
to  let  him  live,  but  to  drive  him  away  from  their 
village,  never  more  to  return  there.  And  they 
decided  to  send  runners  to  all  the  other  villages 
of  the  Ojibways  to  notify  them  of  what  they  had 
done,  and  to  request  that  he  be  received  in  no 
one  of  them.  They  asked  that  he  be  forced  to 
live  by  himself,  away  from  human  kind— live 
with  the  beasts  whose  equal  only  they  thought 
he  was. 

In  order  to  emphasize  more  strongly  their 
detestation  of  him,  they  passed  a  law  that  his 
name  should  never  more  be  spoken  by  any 
Ojibways,  but  that  when  they  had  occasion  to 
refer  to  him  it  should  be  by  the  new  designation 
which  they  gave  him,  Gegwanisugendagozit 
(The- Accursed).  This  new  name  also  was  to  be 
made  known  to  all  the  other  Indians  to  whom 
they  were  to  send  word  about  him;  and 
they  also  were  to  be  requested  to  observe  it,  and 
by  it  alone  in  future  was  he  to  be  known  to  them. 
The  messengers  were  instructed  also  to  tell  them 
that  they  had  sent  word  to  him  to  repent ,  and 
that  if  he  had,  notwithstanding  all  the  enormi 
ties  he  had  committed,  there  was  no  telling  with 
how  much  leniency  they  might  have  dealt  with 
him,  or  how  they  would  have  regarded  him.  but 
that  his  final  deliberate  answer,  "I  will  not 
repent, "  and  his  refusal  to  acknowledge  that 
he  had  done  anything  wrong  had  put  the  stamp 
of  permanence  on  what  he  was  and  on  all  that 
he  had  done— burned  it  in,  and  made  it  an  in- 


THE  OJIBWAY  453 

separable  part  of  himself;  so  that  thenceforth 
by  his  own  deliberate  decision,  the  door  of  for 
giveness  and  restoration  was  forever  closed 
against  him ;  to  all  eternity  he  must  remain  what 
he  had  deliberately  elected  to  be. 

The  runners  who  were  sent  to  the  neighboring 
villages  were  instructed  to  ask  that  those  vil 
lages  in  turn  notify  others  still  more  remote  ol 
what  had  been  done,  and  they  in  turn  others; 
so  that  to  the  farthest  limits  to  which  his  fame 
as  the  Son  of  God  had  extended  there  might  also 
extend  the  news  of  his  degradation  and  banish 
ment  from  human  kind.  The  loathing  of  him 
was  to  be  co-extensive  with  his  exaltation.  The 
god  whom  they  had  approached  on  hands  and 
knees  was  to  be  dragged  in  the  dust  and  be  an 
object  of  execration  to  them  all.  The  lonely 
canoe  man  on  Lake  Ontario  who  had  heard  that 
he  was  the  Son  of  God  was  to  hear  that  he  was 
a  vile  impostor,  the  companion  of  beasts. 

On  a  certain  day  the  inhabitants  of  Gull  Lake 
were  assembled  around  the  fallen  idol's  wig 
wam.  First  the  fire  on  the  hearth  was  put  out, 
and  it  was  commanded  that  as  long  as  the  earth 
remained  no  fire  should  ever  be  made  on  that 
spot.  Next  the  wigwam  was  torn  down  and  the 
materials  burned.  Then  Sha-bosh-kunK  was 
brought  forth,  his  gun  and  a  few  traps  given 
him,  and  he  was  commanded  to  go  to  a  certain 
lonely  region  away  from  their  village,  which 
was  designated  to  him,  and  never  more  to  show 
his  face  there.  He  was  told  to  keep  himself  from 
human  kind ;  that  orders  had  been  given  to  shoot 
him  if  he  ever  approached  or  spoke  to  any 


454  THE  OJIBWAY 

Indian.  He  must  not  approach  any  other  village 
on  pain  of  death.  If  he  needed  powder  and  ball 
to  make  his  living  he  must  go  to  a  certain  dis 
tant  white  trader  mentioned  to  him,  and  then 
only  in  the  night.  He  was  to  build  himself  a 
wigwam  as  best  he  could  and  there  live  all  alone. 
His  wife  and  children  refused  to  go  with  him 
to  banishment;  said  they  would  remain  with 
their  relatives,  and  would  became  Christians  and 
be  baptized. 

When  at  last  he  went  forth  there  was  the  en 
tire  village  looking  after  him,  with  arms 
stretched  forth  and  voices  sending  after  him 
words  of  execration.  It  recalled  the  day  when 
he  set  forth  from  that  same  village  on  his  war 
expedition,  and  then  there  were  the  same  people 
shouting  after  him  words  of  love  and  of  encour 
agement. 

He  disappeared  from  view,  a  lonely  man; 
indeed,  a  "  fugitive  and  a  vagabond "  on  the 
earth.  Once  in  a  while  a  hunter  caught  a  glimpse 
of  a  distant  figure,  then  turned  his  head.  Occa 
sionally  for  some  years  a  smoke  was  seen  to 
rise;  then  the  mother  uttered  the  name  Gegwa- 
nisugendagozit,  and  her  little  one  shudderingly 
hid  its  head  in  her  skirts.  For  some  years  a 
gun  was  occasionally  heard  to  sound;  then  the 
hunter  stamped  upon  the  earth  and  spat.  By 
and  by  all  was  silent,  no  smoke  any  more;  no 
gun  any  longer  heard.  The  hunter  still  avoided 
that  tract  lest  he  should  come  on  the  bones  of 
Sha-bosh-kunk,  gnawed  clean  by  wolves,  and  his 
skull  lying  like  dung  upon  the  ground.  He  had 
no  burial  but  what  the  wild  beasts  gave  him. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

STILL  WATERS  AT  LAST. 

Soon  after,  this  a  great  event  happened— a 
Successor  of  the  Apostles  visited  their  village. 
He  was  the  godly  old  man  who  had  been  con 
secrated  by  that  other  Successor  of  the  Apos 
tles  who  ministered  before   George  Washing 
ton,    to    be    the    Apostle     of     the    Northwest 
wilderness.     As    an    Apostle    he    had    carried 
the  Gospel  through  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Iowa, 
and  as  far  west  as  there  were  any  settlers;  and 
into  all  the  states  of  the  Southwest,  even  to 
Florida  and  Louisiana— and  all  this  in  the  days 
before  railroads,  when  there  were  only  the  slow 
and  painful  stage  coach,  and  the  not  very  safe 
river  steamer.    He  cared  nothing  for  fame,  for 
applause,  for  rank,  for  anything  but  to  do  the 
will  of  his  Father  in  Heaven.     He  fled  from 
praise,  and  love  pursued  him.    In  his  own  state, 
Wisconsin,  in  which  he  had  now  taken  up  his 
residence,  he  was  worshiped.    When  he  alighted 
at  a  town  all  the  hackmen  crowded  around  him, 
and  fought  as  to  who  would  have  him.    "Here, 
Bishop,  get  into  my  hack,"  cried  one;  "here, 
Bishop,    take    mine,"    cried    another;    "here, 
Bishop,  get  into  mine,"  cried  they  all!    When 
he  was  driven  to  his  destination  and  asked  what 
was  to  pay,  not  a  cent  would  any  of  them  take. 
"Well,"  he  would  say,  "I  do  not  think  I  ought 


456  THE  OJIBWAY 

to  do  this;  you  have  your  family  to  support. " 
4 'No,  no,"  cried  the  delighted  cab-owner,  "not 
a  cent  from  you,  Bishop;  will  not  take  a  cent." 
The  man  thought  himself  already  overpaid  by 
being  permitted  to  carry  him. 

This  godly  old  man,  Jackson  Kemper,  with  his 
silvery  white  hair,  came  to  Gull  Lake,  and  took 
his  place  beside  the  Altar  in  the  log  Church.  As 
many  as  could  get  in  the  church  were  in  and  the 
rest  crowded  around  outside.  They  were 
brought  before  him;  the  women  in  their  white 
dresses,  which  had  been  given  them  at  their  bap 
tism,  and  the  purity  of  which  they  were  exhorted 
to  keep  unsullied.  The  aged  Apostle  asked  them 
if  they  ratified  the  vows  of  their  baptism;  to 
renounce  the  Devil  and  all  his  works,  to  believe 
in  God,  and  to  serve  Him  to  their  life's  end,  and 
they  answered  with  a  loud  voice  that  they  did. 
Then  they  knelt  and  each  received  an  Apostolic 
blessing,  and  the  Apostle  laid  his  hands  upon 
them  and  prayed  for  them  that  they  might  re 
ceive  the  Holy  Ghost.  Then  followed  the  holy 
feast  upon  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Saviour 
Christ,  of  which  they  each  partook,  each  of  them 
receiving  the  Consecrated  Bread  and  then  drink 
ing  of  the  Consecrated  Chalice,  after  which  they 
went  joyfully  to  their  homes. 

It  seemed  to  themselves  like  a  dream,  all  that 
they  had  passed  through !—  starvation,  the  fights 
with  their  enemies,  pursuing  and  being  pursued ; 
all  the  dreadful  miseries  of  their  past  lives.  And 
now  they  were  safe  from  it  all,  like  a  canoeman 
who  has  nearly  lost  his  life  in  the  boiling  waves 
but  is  now  at  last  safe  in  the  quiet  haven.  Soon 


THE  OJIBWAY  457 

they  had  houses,  farms,  cattle,  and  every  earthly 
comfort.  They  laid  down  and  slept  in  security, 
with  no  fear  of  hearing  the  awful  Sioux  yell  in 
the  morning,  nor  of  beings  with  the  energy  of 
demons  bursting  in  upon  them! 

They  had,  though,  through  a  most  frightful 
and  terrible  experience,  found  God ;  and  in  find 
ing  Him  they  had  found  every  blessed  thing  in 
this  world  and  in  the  world  to  come.  Their 
meetings  with  each  other  now  were  filled  with 
thanksgivings,  ^recalling  the  frightful  dangers 
through  which  they  had  passed  and  their  present 
happiness.  "  We  'went  through  fire  and  water, 
and  THOU  broughtest  us  out  into  a  wealthy 
plaoel" 

"Thou  shalt  forget  thy  miseries  or  remember 
them  only  as  waters  that  pass  away ! ' ' 

THE  END. 


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